When Djinni Met Genie
by Kentauros
Summary: Mindy gets to meet Jen, a favorite djinni-character from a fanfiction story. Only Jen doesn't want to be there, seeing as how she then can't get back to her own universe. Their further magical adventure begins not long after...
1. When Djinni Met Genie

"When Djinni Met Genie"

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

~Authors' Note~

Kentauros first.

The following is a fair amount of backstory-links for my partner's other stories not posted to FF. It does truly need to be here, though, and per FF's rules, will be added to the beginning of the first chapter. If you don't want to read the backstories and just trust you'll be able to figure every character out for who they are, then skip ahead about half of the page. You'll see the heading for Chapter 1.

* * *

Hello. The Rare Delurker here.

And I'm delurking today to let everyone know that Kentauros and I are together putting out a new IDoJ fanfic. Not a series, I emphasize, just one fanfic. I'm not able to do anything more for the foreseeable future.

The reason I'm announcing it instead of just posting it is that this fanfic has a legacy. In fact, it has two.

A little while back, Kentauros had an idea.

I wrote some fanfics in the Jeannie Sisters universe several years ago, adding to their world the character Jen, a teenage girl who finds out that she is a genie and is brought into the extended Nelson/Healey family (and believe me, in Jeannie sisters, that family is extended indeed!) He wanted to cooperatively write a story in which my genie character meets one of his djinni characters. The character he selected was Mindy, a character from one story in a set of linked stories Kentauros wrote for his old fanfic site. I had always liked it, and he had expanded on the original short story several times with my encouragement.

Now we have come together, and with the permission of Donna, the creator of the Jeannie Sisters stories, we're going to release a story in which djinni (Mindy) meets genie (Jen).

In many ways this isn't just a meeting of two djinn but a meeting of two different interpretations and extensions of the IDoJ universe. Kentauros started with the original series and added mysticism and gave djinn powers (and the exuberant use thereof) that rival Robin Williams' genie in Aladdin. While the Jeannie Sisters extrapolated from small clues in different episodes to create a vast, highly organized world of the djinn and create large extended families for Jeannie and, to a lesser degree Tony and Roger. Those families quickly started creating families of their own. This fanfic doesn't suddenly make those different worlds the same world. Instead, characters cross the boundaries of reality to experience… well, you'll see.

Another reason I'm posting this introduction is that if you just look at this story on your own, you'd be lost. Mindy has a back story that needs explanation. And Jen's back story (along with that of her world) really needs explanation. When I tell you that she lives with Mark and Kashi Healy and that she helps take care of Janet and Jordan Robinson, do you know what that means? If you don't, you need an introduction.

There's also one small cameo from another IDoJ world, one I wrote for Kentauros' old site before the Jeannie Sisters stuff started. And you need that to be explained as well.

So before the story itself is put up, we're going to be posting two stories, Mindy's origin story ("Mindy Gets her Wish") and the origin of the genie cameo characters ("Out of the Blue, Into the Pink") before we post "When Djinni Meets Genie."

In addition, I need to redirect everyone who wants to read this story to the Jeannie Sisters site to read the background to Jen and her world. I've done this several times for two different Jeannie bulletin boards, so I know how to do this. There are many stories.

You can search for **_The Jeannie Sisters_** page on your own (due to the fact that FF doesn't accept urls in this text. PM Kentauros for the direct links.) It's a popular site for IDoJ-specific fanfic and easy to spot.

Once there, navigate to the fanfic page.

I prescribe three different regimens for getting the information you need from the Jeannie sister Stories.

1. THE COMPREHENSIVE WAY: This is the simplest to describe but the hardest to do. Read all of the stories. I do recommend this for everyone in the end, but there are a lot of them. You could start with the Pre-Season 6 stories or just take off with Season 6 and go from there. But get back to the Pre-Season 6 stories at some time. But even if you want to do this eventually, there's no reason you have to read every Jeannie sisters story before reading our little fanfic. So I have the other options…

2. THE SHORTER WAY: This regimen starts with stories that take place just before an altered "15 years Later" and goes on from there. It introduces readers to the Nelson's children, genie Janae and an altered TJ, portrayed now as a half djinn, who's had weak powers for years and never was kept in the dark about his mother' heritage.

NOTE: most though not all of these, including Jen's stories, are told in script format.

15 Will Get You Ten

A Little R & R **This is in narrative form and found belong all the scripts in the list.

Could it be Twenty Years Already? **This is in narrative form and found belong all the scripts in the list.

Those Lonely Days **This is in narrative form and found belong all the scripts in the list.

A New Beginning **This is in narrative form and found belong all the scripts in the list.

That's My Daughter You're Drooling At

My Son's Training

First Dates

The Master Trainers **This is in narrative form and found belong all the scripts in the list.

Genies, Genies Everywhere

What Will Your Pleasure Be?

Skylar's Story **This is in narrative form and found belong all the scripts in the list.

Full Circle

And then the "Jen Cycle"

Suddenly Genie

How to be a Genie in Way Too Many Lessons

The Coco Beach Experiment

A Day (And Sort of More) in the Life of a Genie

Halloween, Genie Style

That's a lot and yet only a small percentage of the Jeannie sisters canon.

But of course, if it is too much, there is…

3. THE MINIMALIST WAY: Includes one story to set up the status quo Jen encounters; then just read Jen's tales.

Full Circle **No Jen, but like I said, this explains everyone else's situation .

And then the "Jen Cycle"

Suddenly Genie

How to be a Genie in Way Too Many Lessons

The Cocoa Beach Experiment

A Day (And Sort of More) in the Life of a Genie

Halloween, Genie Style

Read however much of those you want and you'll be ready for the crossover to come!

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~1~

The day after Mindy's fateful transformation into a powerful djinni, she found that she was up earlier than normal. She attributed it to the necessity of being awake to serve her Master properly. It had been her first night to sleep in her bottle as a djinni and that alone made her feel utterly wonderful about her new life and the day ahead serving her darling Master. She did remember a little of her last dream, but only something about Hadji telling her that she had an important day ahead and to be watchful of things around her. She was not sure what that meant, but maybe as she had more dreams some of them would be precognitive and easier to interpret.

She shrugged it off, smoothed her clothing a bit and felt her hair before she realized she needed to do none of that. Her magic would take care of her body and harem clothes in just a moment. With that in mind, she happily smoked out and into her bedroom, everything she had fussed over before now in perfect form. Zahra stirred only a little in her corner, making Mindy smile. She sighed with an inner cheer at the beginning of her new life, wondering what she would make of it. All in good time, she thought, and blinked out.

Downstairs in Tony Nelson's kitchen, the djinni reappeared, ready to blink up a breakfast feast. The little breakfast nook was on the other side of the stove and counter, though it did not seem big enough. A little blink to both enlarge the nook and the table took care of that little problem. Mindy folded her arms only to help her imagine the full spread and set that in her mind. Now when her Master was ready to eat, she need only remember that image and make it a reality. She kept her arms up to help her 'see' into her Master's bedroom, and found him stirring awake. Perfect! Now she could help him get ready, too. With that, she blinked out.

Mindy appeared to the side of her Master's bed, facing him and at the same moment he opened his eyes. Well, that might not have been such a good idea, as he was startled by her appearance, not to mention the idea that she was there at all. He must have been in a deep sleep, she thought, by how he reacted.

"What the—who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Master! It is I, Jeannie! Do you not remember me from yesterday? I am your djinni, remember?" she soothed, kneeling at his bedside and taking his hands in hers. He recoiled for just a moment, then relaxed, nodding.

"Okay, now I remember. It really felt like it was all a dream. Maybe I dreamed of you and what you did with us yesterday, too. I can't remember my dreams right now…"

"Would you like to, Master?" she asked, ready to help him out that way.

"Well, normally I don't care, but maybe make it so I remember them throughout the day. I'm still getting used to all this you know."

"I know Master, and I will do as you ask," she said, imagining him slowly remembering the details of his dreams as she blinked at him. "Now, would you like me to help you get ready to go to work today? I can take care of everything in a blink!"

"That's okay, Jeannie. I need to shower and wake up anyway. Dr. Barrows wants me there in about an hour, so I have plenty of time to get ready."

"Then let me at least blink you to work, Master. I have a feast ready to blink for breakfast and you will need time to eat it all."

"Really, Jeannie, you don't need to do all that for me. Just a light breakfast is enough."

"But it is the most important meal of the day! You should eat more if you are going to be having more physical tests," she said and did not wait to argue with him any more. She knew best for his welfare and blinked him into his shower, undressed and with the water at his favorite temperature. He yelped at the sudden change of place and circumstances, only to quickly relax under the spray. He knew she meant well, and maybe it would be nice to have a little magical help that morning. Doing all those tests all over again was not what his idea of fun, especially on a Sunday.

Mindy straightened up her Master's bedroom while he showered, getting out his uniform, too, and letting it float by the dresser for easier access. She had all that done in less than a minute and popped over to the kitchen to see if there was anything she could do to improve things. After a quick glance at the appliances, she renewed them all, and then pondered about electricity. Why should he have to pay anything when she could make it with her magic, like Jeannie did in _Hurricane Jeannie._ She loved the idea of that, and blinked it so for the whole property.

"There! Now that is one utility that we do not need. But what about the others?" she said, again thinking that through. She could do the same for the water, sewer, phone, and gas, if he had gas there. The kitchen appeared to be all electric, including the cook-top and oven, unlike the original Nelson house. It was safer for the most part, but magic was safer than any of that. She had only to make all the others work by magic, and she promptly did that all in one blink!

"Much better! Now all of my Master's bills will come marked with zero due," she said, giggling. Letting that topic drop, she began to use a little magic here and there on things like stored food, cleaning, and making the window over the sink wider. Another blink included skylights over the stove and oven as well as the sink and breakfast nook. It mattered not to her that there was another floor above the kitchen. She simply made them work and she squealed in delight at doing another impossible thing. She did not think she would get used to having such abilities for a long time, so she knew she would be remaining excited most of the time.

"I wonder how my Master is coming along?" she mused, folding her arms up to take a peek. She kept her view just outside the shower stall, though she liked the shadow he produced against the glass. She sensed he was nearing the end, so she dropped her connection and went out to the patio. She was not worried about being seen by her Master's neighbors there as the weird thing about the older layout to his house was that the patio was surrounded by either foliage, or the wall of the garage. The brick wall at the back overlooked the coast and beach. It open enough there that anyone jogging by would see her if they glanced up. And if they did, she would wave happily to them, just to be friendly.

At that time of the day, the sun was just coming up, so it was all still in twilight. The one jogger coming along the beach from the left would not likely be able to see her. She did blink a little magic at the woman, making her trip and stumble but not fall. It made Mindy giggle softly to herself at her prank. Maybe she would do more of that throughout the day while her Master was away…

Surveying the concrete and brick patio around her, Mindy knew it could use a makeover. One blink cleaned the concrete and re-colored it to a soft peach. Only she thought better of that, and turned it into pink granite instead. She did the same with the brick, changing it into a stone wall made of gray granite. She did not want to get too carried away with styling or make it _too_ noticeable. Dr. Barrows would be able to tell, but he was there to perplex anyway.

Another blink improved the quality of his patio furniture, making them all out of teak with tan silk coverings over the cushions. There was no green and white striped awning over the back entrance to the house like in the later color seasons, but her Master did have a short deck-roof added on. It was okay in her opinion, partly because it did not really match the house much. One blink later and it did, as well as extending another six feet over the deck to about halfway. That was much better, and she could always blink it away if he wanted more sunlight.

Most of the foliage blocking direct sight to the patio was not well-kept and consisted mainly of boring things like hedges and banana trees. Better would be a nice windbreak of Mediterranean cedars on the south side and a mix of date and olive trees behind the garage. She blinked those into place and they all looked just right. The date trees were taller than the olive trees while those had branches heavy with olives and hanging low. She had shaped the cedars to be the tall and skinny, and thus, there were quite a few of them, creating a living wall between properties. They would get more than enough light from the sun, seeing as how the house faced west. If they ever needed more, well, one blink would provide all that was needed.

Mindy had spent the last five minutes making improvements to her Master's home, making her wonder if he was close to getting out of his shower yet. A quick peek showed her that he was at least partially dressed, so she finished it for him and popped over behind him with her arms around his neck.

"Are you feeling better, Master?" she asked, giggling at his continued jumpiness.

"I was. Why not walk through the door next time?"

"Because I like blinking, Master! But I will do as you ask. Now, are you ready for breakfast?"

"Yeah, now that you've finished dressing me," he said, looking back to her with a smile. That just made her melt inside and she forgot herself, blinking the two of them out and into their places at the breakfast table. Another blink created the feast and Mindy proceeded to feed her Master like the night before. He didn't protest, and settled in for a longer and more filling breakfast than he had anticipated.

Luckily for him, he was getting full before she could overfeed him, and still have enough time to drive over to the base. He kept looking at the clock on the wall, and it didn't escape Mindy's attention.

"Master, relax! It takes less than a second to blink you to work and I will make sure Dr. Barrows does not see you appear."

"Okay, but let's stop here. I don't want to be too full for these tests. They can be very strenuous and I don't want to get sick."

"That will not happen, Master. You will do wonderfully today and nothing will go wrong with Dr. Barrows' equipment, either. We will get that extra day off at the end of the week, to do with as we please," she cooed, sidling up to him again, to wrap her arms around his neck and elicit a warm and sensuous kiss out of him. If she did not have to obey his command of her, she would have just blinked time stopped at that moment and taken them to bed whether he wanted to go that far so soon or not! As it was, he held her as they broke it off, smiling his best to her, and saying nothing. Her inner willpower was fading fast, so she hoped he did something else, soon.

"That was nice, Jeannie. I kind of wish I could stay with you for the day, but I don't want you blinking things changed. I won't be that long. Dr. Barrows wants to get the day over with fast, too. We'll probably be done by the early afternoon," he said, relaxing his grip on her. She took the hint and sat back in her chair, though she kept her hands on his. "Now I think it's time for me to go, young lady. Just get me to my office without anyone else questioning it, okay?"

"Okay, Master!" Mindy agreed and folded her arms up to concentrate. She saw his office was occupied by Dr. Barrows, yet the hallways were empty. No one else was at work, so she knew where to place him. She grinned to her adorable Master first, and blinked him instantly to the hallway outside of his office. Continuing to watch, she witnessed him walk into his office, and begin his day with his superior officer without any unexplainable questions.

Mindy dropped her arms to break the connection and blinked the rest of the feast away. It had been more than enough for her, too, and she still had some minor remodeling do to the house. She would show her Master all of it when he got home. And that reminded her of some help she could send his and Dr. Barrows' way. They needed some luck in their day and she could provide it. One little blink, and everything would not only work perfectly, but they would breeze through it all in record time! Happy with her adjustment to their day, she blinked upstairs to take care of Zahra before getting on with the rest of the house.


	2. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 2

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~2~

Another world in another world. Old Baghdad. The large room with Arabian-style décor was filled with tables, mixing magical and alchemical items with modern electronics, some used with magical objects. At the center of the room stood a Past-Future Machine, tubes and wires protruding from it, connecting it to heavily modified tower computers. A man, or rather a djinn, Dr. Yosuf stood next to the machine peering into its screen.

He didn't react when a brown-haired genie with an orange harem outfit popped into the room. The genie, Jennifer Briars, clutched a pamphlet written in Farsi in her hand as she looked around the room.

"Janae?" she shouted. "Where's Janae?"

Dr. Yosuf looked up from the machine.

"Oh, hello," he said. Jen's hard gazes offended for a moment then went harder still.

"Where is she?" Jen asked.

"Around, I think," Yosuf said. "Last I heard, she'd come to visit her brother. I think they're still here." He looked around. "Maybe not. Why do you want to see her?"

Jen stormed over to the Past-Future Machine. And held up her pamphlet.

"She gave me this," she said.

He took it and smiled, saying, "Ah, yes. _'So You're Going to Have a Master.'_ Typical stuff. They hand it out at school. It gives some basic advice." He turned back to the machine. "Doesn't go into detail though."

"What details?" Jen asked. "It's slavery."

"Yes," Yosuf said as he adjusted one of the knobs he'd added to the Past-Future Machine. "But it's only a week with a Training Master. After that, don't let yourself get sealed in a bottle or anything and you'll be fine."

"Great," Jen said.

"Isn't it?" he mumbled.

"Are you even listening to me?" Jen demanded. He didn't respond and she sighed. "So what are you looking at?"

"Another one of those alternate worlds," Yosuf said. "The image has been flickering a little, but it's stayed on it for almost two hours now. The image hasn't been this stable for weeks. Come and look." Jen leaned over and looked, even though he didn't make room for her.

On the screen X.

Now the screen showed a vision of two genies. Or two people both in harem outfits. One, a brown haired adult was dressed exactly in the pink and red outfit Jen knew from her time with the Nelson family. The other, a red-haired girl perhaps six years old, wore a child's version of the outfit in shades of purple and blue.

The two sat in a large American-style living room with a statue of a tree in front of them.

"You don't like it, Mommy?" the girl asked the woman.

"It is not that I dislike it, dear," the adult said. "But you should not have done it in public. People could have seen the tree turn into porcelain. Remember, we are trying to keep our being genies a secret."

The girl, mollified said, "I know."

"How did you learn to do it, anyway," the adult asked.

"I was watching the DVDs of Jeannie," the girl said, "and in it she used the blink technique to do it. I wanted to try."

"A DVD of Jeannie?" Jen said. "Like Jeannie Jeannie?"

"It could be any genie," Yosuf said.

"Right, your stupid idea about names," Jen said.

"And it probably means they've also developed the ability to be visible to cameras," Yosuf said. But he couldn't stop wondering what "the DVDs of Jeannie" meant. It didn't seem like they were talking about a person when they said it. It was confusing.  
"Yes, but if you remember," the adult genie on the screen said, "when Jeannie used that blink combination in that episode, it caused problems for her."

"Episode?" Jen said. "What, do they teach genie with videos instead of going to school?" She smiled. "Sounds like a better world."

On the screen, the door opened and a man about the woman's age entered.

"Daddy!" the girl cried and blinked herself from where she was to stand next to him.

"Hi, Jean," he said to the girl, stroking her hair, "Hi Christie," he added to the grown genie.

"Welcome home, Master," Christie said.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the porcelain tree.

"Jean tried something she saw watching _I Dream of Jeannie,"_ Christie said. "It was the one where Major. . ."

The screen burst into static, and then the screen changed. It often did that. Ever since Yosuf and Tony and Jeannie Nelson's son TJ had first modified the Past-Future Machine it had begun showing images from different worlds. Some similar to his own, some different. But the glimpses into these words were brief and shifted at random.

"I Dream… What?" Jen said. "What are they talking about?"

"That's what I was wondering," Yosuf said. He wished that view had lasted a little longer. What they had been talking about sounded interesting. There were even several theories about alternate worlds that might explain the meaning of what they were saying.

But it was a new world now and another chance to learn something. Yosuf smiled and looked at the screen, which now displayed a genie with a red and pink harem outfit sitting in front of a modern, Western computer. The genie was enormously curvaceous.

Jen snickered, "No way that's real."

"What's real?" Yosuf asked. Jen looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"The parts of her you're looking at?" she said.

"I'm looking at all of her, and the room and location," Yosuf said. "This is a new image; I have to get what information I can from it while I can. It could be an entirely different world, one we've never seen before. Who knows what I could learn from it."

"Looking at the walls," Jen said. "Right. Those curves of hers. She had to have surgery."

"Why surgery?" Yosuf asked.

"OK, fine," Jen said. "Maybe she didn't need surgery. But she had to have blinked herself that way. No way those curves are originals."

The genie on the screen folded her arms and looked like she was about to blink.

Something like a burst of wind, but less tangible, radiating with colors Jen had never seen before radiated from the Past-Future Machine's screen. Before she could scream, Jen and Yosuf were engulfed in the strange explosion. Jen felt like she was being pulled. And then she wasn't where she had been before.


	3. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 3

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~3~

Around eight that morning and after Mindy had made as many adjustments to the whole house as she could imagine without her Master's guidance, she was adding an extra room to her bedroom. It was a study so she would have a brighter and private place for her computer, books, and scrolls, with an arched opening on three of the walls. Each opened to a different time period and ancient city, though all were synchronized to her days of the year. That way, the sunlight and stars would all come out at the same time, track their skies in sync, and start anew the next day. She even added a skylight to her bedroom that did the same thing, opening to the desert sky of ancient Persia. Perhaps she could add a similar skylight to her Master's bedroom, too, once she received his permission to do so. She could hide it from the eyes of any other humans, just to be safe.

Mindy got her computer up and running again, using some magic to both bring it power and get it connected to the Internet again. She liked going around human authority like that. Besides, who would or could find out? She tested her connection by looking at the biggest of the Jeannie forums to see what was new, and then noticed the tabbed window on that fan-fiction story she had been reading before Jeannie interrupted her yesterday.

Had it really only been a little over a day? Well, about two days in time for her, what with looping time last night in her bottle. When she had finally gotten to sleep, she figured she had been awake for well over 36 hours! Yet, it she had not felt as fatigued as that kind of sleep-deprivation created, thanks to the magic. It made her think that she could try the 'going without sleep' blink that night, loop time again, and see how well it worked. Well, depending on what happened in her day and what her Master needed her for later.

She found her place in the story and finished it in just another ten minutes. It made her laugh at the main character's problems with magic, being as how she, too, had not been a djinni for long. In Jen's case, though, it was a matter of not knowing she was a djinni and having to learn it without the benefit of years watching a fictional television show as in Mindy's case. She pondered what the two of them could talk about, djinni to djinni. Of course, her thoughts did not stop there, and before she knew it, her arms were up, folded.

Mindy had to pause there, however, as she immediately sensed magic just after the end of the story! How was that possible? She had to sense with her powers what was going on, closing her eyes to will the magic focused on that area. The magic had an odd feel to it, but she did not learn any more than that. She wondered about that aspect as she dropped her still folded arms to her lap. In the next moment, she received her answer in a form she had not expected.


	4. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 4

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~4~

**BAMF…**

Upon arriving Jen's first words were, "Oh no, not again." The pamphlet fell from her hand without her noticing.

"What the hell?" Mindy yelped, turning to look behind her. She jumped up at the presence of two more people that seemed to be djinn.

"Well, this is interesting," said Yosuf, and then to Mindy, "Hello."

"Hey, don't do that," Jen said. "You'll erase us from existence… or something."

Mindy quelled her initial surprise easily enough as she was getting excited at the sight she beheld, if those two were real. "Uh, hello. Are you related to Mirrilla?"

"Who?" Jen asked.

"Jeannie's cousin, Mirrilla," Mindy explained.

Yosuf spoke up with recognition. "Mirrilla. That would be Kashmir's cousin, I believe."

"I do not know Kashmir, other than the one in the story," she said, turning to point to the page still showing on the screen. "I only know Mirrilla and Jeannie. Are you Jen? I do not know your friend."

Jean responded apprehensively. "Yeah? Who are you?"

"I am Mindy!" she said, practically bubbling.

"Mork hiding somewhere behind there?" Jen asked with her typical sarcasm. It made Mindy giggle.

"Good one, Jen. I was about to blink into your universe, but then you showed up first. And I do not know how, or why," she added.

"Wait—Wait—Wait…"Jen stammered.

"Our universe, you say?" Yosuf asked, his eyes brightening even more. He looked around the room, shaking with excitement. "Have we—? Have we crossed over?"

"Oh, you are Yosuf! I am pleased to meet you both, but perhaps I should explain something. You came out of a story I wanted to blink into."

"Story?" Jen asked, puzzled.

"Really? Well that is—I'm sorry, could you explain that again?" He looked at Mindy, though not quite in the eyes. Jen noticed and slapped him in the chest. Mindy tried to hold back a giggle, not succeeding in the least.

"Eyes up, Doc."

"Well, you've no idea what significance this might have. What it might mean."

"And stop talking, too," Jen said.

"Okay, let us take this in a little more detail," Mindy began. "You are in a world where your lives are just a fictional story in my universe."

Jen laughed derisively at hearing that, but the knowledge made her uncomfortable. "Just a story…"

"Really? What do you mean?" he asked, and turned to Jen. "This is interesting, isn't it?"

"You're not buying this, are you?" Jen asked.

"Here, let me show you," Mindy offered, turning to point at the story on the computer. "This is some fan-fiction online. In my world, we have a TV show called 'I Dream of Jeannie' and many people now write stories based on it."

Jen looked askance at Yosuf as she heard that. "Is there a djinn equivalent of the loony bin?"

Mindy got an idea then and blinked the computer screen directly in front of Jen's eyes. It caused the eyes of the orange-clothed djinni to go rather wide as she read the text.

"No way… No way!" Jen cried out. She blinked the screen back to the desk, seized the mouse and scrolled the page up and down. She turned back to Mindy, angrily. "This is—you made this. You just blinked it into being. We can do that—right?"

"Possibly," Yosuf said. "I guess we could. But—this does feel different, doesn't it?"

Jen was still reading the story, and not liking a bit of it. "This is crazy! What's your game? Did Sheba put you up to this, Fashka? What are you trying to do?"

"This is amazing," said Yosuf.

"This is a con," Jen said.

"I have never met Sheba, only you, and Yosuf, now. As I said, I only know of Jeannie and Mirrilla personally. And another thing, I have only been a djinni for about two days," she said. She was getting tired of trying to explain things standing there the whole time. Better to be sitting, she thought.

"Would you both like a place to sit? It might be easier if we talk this over calmly, first," Mindy suggested. Her chair remained where it was as she motioned for them to sit together.

"Wait—how do you know this is Yosuf?" Jen looked him over as she said that. "Never mind. How could you not know?"

Mindy grinned to Jen. "He did say who he was just a minute ago…"

"Yes, sitting. Thank you," he replied. "One of my favorite things is sitting."

Jen rolled her eyes at hearing that. "Since when?"

"Then would you rather float?" Mindy asked.

"Did I say that? Oh, well I suppose I must have. Or you magicked it out of the air. Sitting is better. All that floating around, all those micro adjustments that one has to make. Chairs are much better." Yosuf chose one of the two chairs by the computer and sat down. Jen took a step behind him and sat with him between her and Mindy, glancing back between the two of them.

"So, you said we're from a story?" Yosuf asked, excited.

"And you believe her?" Yosuf shrugged back with a broader smile.

With no place to sit other than in the air and wanting to join her new friends in comfort, Mindy blinked up a half-circle couch into the space behind their chairs, blinking them all onto it at the same time. It was just like the ring-couch from Mindy's bottle, or rather from Jeannie's.

Jen flinched at Mindy's use of magic. "Warn us, will you? What is going on? Where did that—" she faltered as she pointed at Mindy's computer, composing herself. "Where did that come from? Are you with that group of djinn spies keeping tabs on me?"

"No, I am not with the spies, Jen. You truly are from a story, one that is a spinoff from the main show. It has some of the main characters in places, like Jeannie or Fawzia as you know her, as well as Anthony Nelson and his sister, plus Roger Healey. There are many others if you want me to list them all…"

"List them all…" Jen said.

"Oh do…" Yosuf replied. "Imagine. Learning about another world."

Yosuf's comment made Jen glare at him.


	5. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 5

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~5~

Mindy had made the screen first list off all of the characters, and another blink gave detailed synopses to each story. Jen scrolled through them all with Yosuf looking from the side. Her initial anger turned into confusion and then despair.

Jen was looking down at the desk when she was finished, dejected.

"It's—it's real," she admitted. Turning to Yosuf, she had to make sure it was real after all. "Is it real?"

"No idea. I mean it could be. But it could just as well be fake I suppose. But why not? Besides, it does fit some of the things TJ and I saw in some of the alternate realities we looked at. There was one reality we saw that TJ said contained elements from a tele-visual—"

"Television," Jen interrupted.

"Yes, yes, that. But it was one of those shows called Stargate, I believe it was. He recognized elements from it. But it wasn't clear if it was real or if they weren't just coincidences, if that. But if we can be fictional…"

"How is that suppose to be good?" Jen asked, annoyed.

"Good?" He paused a moment, considering it. "I haven't stopped to think about if it's good or not."

"What a surprise."

"How about if I let you see some of the show this all comes from? We could start with the first episode if you like..."

"Oh yes, very much." He blinked and bags of popcorn appeared in both his and Jen's hands. Jen barely reacted, but Mindy jumped just a little, not expecting that. Still, it did make her grin. She loved seeing other djinn use their powers. She wondered what it would be like when she was with her mother and seeing her blink, too. That would come later; for the moment, she had two unfamiliar djinn to entertain.

Mindy blinked at the computer screen, changing it into a very large HDTV-style monitor. It began showing the beginning of the pilot episode, 'The Lady in the Bottle' in real color and not colorized. Mindy was very pleased with herself at doing it that way. It was also a strong reminder to her that she needed to change all of the colorized episodes out there as her gift to the _Jeannie_-watching community.

"So strange to see a genie showing up clearly on screen," Yosuf said. "Without that special technique that we have now." He then turned to Mindy and asked, "Do you have a technique to make yourself visible to cameras?"

"I have not yet determined if I am visible on cameras or not. Mirrilla did not mention it yesterday when she was training me, either. But in this case, that is not a real djinni. It is just an actress by the name of Barbara Eden."

Jen lowered her head.

"Fascinating—truly fascinating…"

"No, it is not fascinating," Jen said. "We're not real."

"Of course we're real," he corrected, pointing to himself and then to her. "Here we are."

"And there's Jeannie Nelson," she said, pointing to screen. "Only she's not real. And she's—she's not real and I'm—not, not even not real—I'm less than not real—I'm some fictitious character…"

"You are indeed real, Jen!" Mindy said, trying to assure Jen of the difference. "It is just another universe. Mine and yours. In mine, to everyone but the Djinn, you are fictional, and for all I know, I am fictional to your universe."

"Oh, thanks." Jen pointed at the screen, which showed Jeannie and Tony in his living room. "Look at her, she's not even doing the blink right. She's just fluttering her eyes."

"They changed that in later episodes," Mindy said. "Jen, this is a show. But that does not mean that a nearly identical event did not also happen in our world and your world."

"There were those who thought about alternate reality for centuries, you know," Yosuf said. "Long before TJ and I started our experiments. All the blinking of characters out of books, and so forth. And it was wondered for a long time if they were real characters or simply created with memories by our magic. There are all sorts of theories. Many believe that other worlds exist and that creative people's imaginations are inspired by perceiving that reality."

"So we can't imagine? We're real but we can't imagine…" Jen asked.

"No, it's more that this is what imagination is. Or what it may be."

"From what little I know of magic, any story is another universe and I can go into it or get people out of it," Mindy said. "I was about to blink into your universe when I sensed some other magic at the end of the story, just after the last sentence. It was not my magic and I do not know how it got there. What was the last thing you did before you came across to this universe?"

"Janae left me this," Jen said, holding up her hand. She groaned when she realized it was empty. "Oh, why don't these stupid things have pockets?" She patted down her harem pants for a bit before remembering.

"Oh, right," she said, looking down at the floor where she had dropped the pamphlet earlier. Mindy had not noticed it until just then. There had been too much happening all at once. Plus, it was not entirely in her line of sight.

Jen blinked, the pamphlet disappeared from the floor and reappeared in her hand. "Janae was supposed to be visiting TJ at his and—" she looked at Yosuf, "—this person's lab, so I was going to tell her just what I thought about it. Then this Past-Future Machine—uh, do you know what that is, or is that just another invention of—or is that just from my universe?" She shook her head at the confusing aspects of it all. "My universe. When is this stuff going to get easier?"

"I know of it, though I have not yet used one. Mirrilla taught me how to see into the future and other times just by crossing my arms and concentrating in my mind, willing the magic to help me. I suppose I could use the Past & Future Machine, too, but it seems like extra work for a limited result. And it is easy for me. I know you are having trouble Jen, at least in the story. I grew up with the show and wishing I was a djinni for, well, most of my life. You were born a djinni and only in recent years learned you had powers. I think we see our djinni-lives differently."

"Wishing you were…" She brandished the pamphlet like a sword in Mindy's direction. "You ever hear about the slavery part? Were you wishing for that, too?"

"As a matter of fact, I was," Mindy said with the biggest grin on her face yet. "I have the Master of my dreams now. That was the real wish I got from Jeannie. She could not turn me into a djinni; Mirrilla had to do that, so I kind of got two wishes in one. Well, other than this new body." She giggled at the last bit. She was still in awe of her powers, but she had the kind of body that also made men always look, and she loved the attention it brought. She only hoped it worked its wonders on her Master soon, too...

Jen turned to Yosuf, looking like she had just beat him at something. "Told you that wasn't original. And no need to look that close." She turned back to Mindy, back to the 'master' subject.

"But seriously, you asked to have a Master. _Asked?_ Did you fall asleep in history class? All the stuff before the Civil War wasn't nice! Or did you not have a Civil War in this world?"

"Don't mind her; she's a little funny on this topic," Yosuf said, turning to Mindy. She merely acknowledged him with a nod before going on with Jen.

"I do not know how to explain it, really. I grew up with the fantasy of a show that made it romantic. Jeannie has a master, yet she treats him more like her lover and he treats her more like a companion. There are times when the slavery part comes into play, but mostly it is like Jeannie is being as generous as she can because she has these unlimited magic powers. That is how I see it, too. I can do anything at all for my Master. Why should I not do so, willingly and lovingly? We are Djinn, not humans. Humans should not have slaves. I do not think of myself as a slave," she said, though perhaps she would not really mind being her enchanting Master's slave, given the circumstances. "So it is not truly the same thing. As I see it."

"Well lucky you," she said disgustedly and turned to Yosuf. "We're out of here." She blinked and Mindy heard a different magic sound than normal from Jen. It reminded her of the times in the show when Jeannie's blink would fail to work or not work correctly. The same seemed to be true for Jen at that moment as she looked perplexed by the non-result. She folded her arms to try again, blinking harder that time, enough to bounce her ponytail up off of her shoulders. However, it was to no avail. Mindy heard the same failed-blink sound and Jen was looking upset. "I don't know how to do that. Yosuf?"

"Well, I guess it would be." He blinked, too, also with a failed-blink sound. "Guess not."

"Here, let me try. I will take all of us," Mindy said, blinking out and going to Jen's bedroom in the Kashi Healy home. However, she quickly found that she was alone. Jen and Yosuf did not come over. It puzzled her as that should have worked perfectly. She had not yet experienced her magic not working exactly as she directed it. She did notice Jen's bottle on a nearby dresser and had to look in. It was just like those authors of the story had described it: all shades of orange and complimentary colors. It was brightly lit with a burning lamp, though she knew from her own experience with such things, that they were magic lamps. They created far more light than a simple oil-burning lamp. She grinned to herself at the idea of visiting the bottles of other djinn now that she could cross into their worlds. With that thought in mind, she stood up straight and blinked home, appearing in her place on the couch.

"It looks like you are stuck here. You should have made it over with me. I have never left anyone behind before."

Predictably, Yosuf's response was simply, "Interesting."

"Quit saying that. This is like—oh, no!" Jen blinked and again all heard the failed-blink sound. "We're trapped aren't we? Trapped like when we were in the past. Oh no…"

"It's not that bad," Yosuf said, not very convincingly.

"Not that bad!? Are you—? How can it not be that bad?"

"We can call on Mirrilla and see if she can help," Mindy said, and folded her arms to connect telepathically to the other djinni. She projected a short description of what had happened and received first a surprised 'Oh!' before getting an assurance that she would blink over at the next break. "She will be here in a few hours. So, would either of you like something to drink or eat other than popcorn?"

"I can make anything I want, same as you," Jen said. "So what's taking this Mirrilla so long?"

"She is training my mother in her powers right now," Mindy explained. "When they take lunch, she then will blink over."

"Your mother? Is everyone here a djinn or genie now?"

Mindy gave Jen a knowing smile before answering. "Not yet, but we are working on it."

The three then settled down and finished watching the _Jeannie_ episode.


	6. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 6

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~6~

"Well? What did you think?" Mindy asked them, smiling. Watching the episode again had given her some ideas to try blinking later.

"Think? What am I supposed to think?" Jen asked.

"It's quite fascinating," said Yosuf. "I've had no idea. The things this suggests about the human brain. I must get some samples of one soon."

"Get a brain for yourself first before you go after anyone else's," Jen quipped.

"I think that you like magic from what I have read, Jen, or some things within this life," Mindy said. "Maybe I can help that way. I have given limited djinni-powers to a pet tiger I have. Oh, and Yosuf, I to not think it is a good idea to take brain matter from living humans. It is not nice."

"Well, they don't need to be alive. Of course, animate is preferable. And there are those lovely MRIs and other scanners the humans made…"

"You gave magic to a tiger?" Jen asked. "And you've been a genie for, what, two days? That doesn't sound safe. I can't imagine your Haji liking you doing that. You'll be lucky if you're not bottled and sent away from this master of your dreams by the end of the day."

"As a matter of fact," Mindy said, "Mirrilla asked me to try it. She had noticed that I learned my powers very quickly and almost perfectly, so we tested my ability that way. I do not get the impression that our Hadji is as restrictive as yours."

"Well that's something." Jen was impressed. This world had its good points.

"Something, indeed," said Yosuf. "I think I'd like to see just how different things are here than back in reality—that is our reality." He looked around the room before commenting again, "This does feel so different."

"This is an additional room to begin with," Mindy said. "I just created it this morning. The bedroom was blinked into a wall in my Master's study last night, so I would not have to stay in my bottle all the time. Only my Master and I can see the entrance or pass into the bedroom, except for other djinn. Would you like to see the rest of the house? It is almost just like the one in the show, at least in the first season. I will show you bits from the other seasons later or now if you prefer…"

"Stop saying 'the show'!" Jen said, looking at the screen, now off. "It's creepy. But, a less restrictive Haji. Now that I could go with. Sure, I'm a genie from a story who's real but not real watching some TV show that made me real but didn't. Why not look through a house? Go for it."

"All right. And since you asked me to warn you first, I am blinking us downstairs now." Mindy nodded a little as she blinked the three of them out and back into being in the front hall, facing the living room.

"Even that felt different. A little," Yosuf said.

"I suppose we could test the magic difference between us. Try blinking either us or just me across the room." Yosuf did as Mindy asked and blinked her over to the fireplace.

"Yes, I see what you mean. It is very different. That is to be expected, I suppose. Maybe I should show you Zahra first." She blinked the three of them upstairs, to appear in the bedroom, near Zahra's corner. The tiger perked up at new visitors, getting up to rub Mindy's side as she petted her. "Would you like her to demonstrate her powers?"

Jen jumped back in surprise, seemingly afraid of that 'pet' tiger. At the same time, Yosuf leaned toward Zahra, fascinated.

"Now look at that…"

"I AM!" Jen yelled.

"And you made this, you said, or at least gave it powers?" Yosuf said, still looking down at the animal. Zahra looked back from time to time, like she was wondering when she would get a pet from him.

"I made her _and_ gave her powers. At first, she started to gain more power with time, and Mirrilla pointed that out. So I limited her ability. Still, she should have full djinni-powers, just much weaker than my own," she explained, then looked down to the tiger. "Tell them your name, please."

Zahra projected her thoughts to them all, stating happily, *I am Zahra, tiger of Mindy!*

"Now that is remarkable. Where we come from, only the most powerful of djinn have been able to transfer a portion of their powers to animals. And have the transfer last long in any case," he said, and paused a moment before going on. "Is there a Blue Djinn in your world, by any chance?"

"Not that I know of. So far, the only djinn out in this world are my mother and I. Mirrilla is here only to train us and then she will return to Limbo. I do not feel it is the same Limbo as it is for you. More like another reality where they all live away from this one. Mirrilla also told me that she is an 'elemental' djinni and they are the only ones normally able to impart magic powers into humans, animals or objects."

This revelation made Jen scared. "Limbo? Getting back home doesn't sound that bad now. Last time I was trapped in, well, time, I couldn't get home because I had to do something here. History demanded it or something like that. Anyone have an idea what I'm supposed to do this time?" Jen looked at the tiger again, apprehensive about Mindy's assurances. "And is that thing really safe?"

"She is the tamest tiger in the world, Jen. I created her that way, so she is nothing more than a big cuddling 'purrball'. She may bowl you over in her excitement to see you, but she will never attack."

Jen was still suspicious of that. Nothing was 'right' in Mindy's universe compared to her own, so how could she fully trust that genie's word?

"Right…" she said and turned to Yosuf. "Watch out for my health, Doctor. And try to keep your eyes off her," she said. She edged close to Zahra, a shaking hand out trying to pat it on the head.

"No fast movements," she said to the tiger. "I have eyelids, and I know how to use them." She gently touched Zahra's head as the big cat walked over to Jen. She happily offered her head and neck to be scratched, closing her eyes.

*I will not harm you. I am Mindy's tiger!*

"See, Jen? She is harmless," Mindy said, happy to see Jen softening to at least one thing in her world. "Oh, before I forget, something I thought of during all this discussion about giving powers to others, is that maybe I can make your powers stronger?"

Jen looked up to Yosuf but did not stop scratching the loudly purring tiger. "Is that safe?"

"It might be," he said. "It would certainly be interesting."

"Great," Jen said. "Him first."

"What?" Yosuf exclaimed, taken aback by Jen's suggestion. However, it made some sense to him as he pondered it briefly. "Well, it would give me the most experiential information. Certainly help me understand any problems you may have."

"Very well. Let us see how it works out." Mindy folded her arms up, concentrating with her eyes closed for a moment. She opened them and blinked hard at Yosuf. He vanished for a moment, and returned to being a few seconds later. Mindy felt the magic had worked right, as that was part of the sense she got from it. Still, the other djinni needed to test it. "Try something you might not have been able to do before."

Yosuf blinked at a chair. It rocketed into the air and crashed through the ceiling. He looked up at the hole and said, "Now that is interesting."

Mindy looked at the result in disbelief, her mouth agape. "Did you mean to do that to my Master's house?"

"You broke the house!" Jen shouted.

Yosuf, though, was very nonchalant about it all. "Why, it's all perfectly repairable. Just thought I'd levitate the chair. I'll have to adjust my thought processes a bit with this augment. But honestly, you two do need to stop thinking in the human way. A little hole in a ceiling isn't so bad." He blinked up at the wreckage and the ceiling was immediately repaired.

Mindy complained to him about his assessment of her reaction, though. "It is not that I am still thinking like a human, but having read some of the things I have in your universe, I know things do not always go the way you mean them to. When Mirrilla gets here, she can test you further, unless you know of a better way? Or should I augment Jen now, too?"

"You better believe you should do it to me now," she insisted. "I don't want to be the weak one here."

"I am glad you want it now, Jen," Mindy said, smiling to the other djinni as she folded her arms up to concentrate again. Another hard blink made Jen vanish. It took longer for her to reappear, like eight seconds that time. Mindy did not know what that meant, but maybe it had something to do with them not being from her universe. Even so, she was excited that it _had_ worked and it came through in her tone to Jen. "There you are! Try something you could not do before, or that was difficult for you."

Jen stumbled upon reappearing, obviously feeling something from the extended vanishment. "Whoa—that was weird. Do something I couldn't do. No problem." She then blinked and the failed-blink sound rang out.

"What—I still can't get back? Fine then," she said, looking at a nearby clock and blinked. The clock's second hand kept repeating the last five seconds. "There."

"Did you make time repeat?" Yosuf asked.

Jen smiled for the first time in Mindy's universe. "Or just the clock. I can't really tell."

"Let me see." Mindy blinked out, reappearing in the middle of the street outside, and looking up at the trees. They did appear to be looping, and then a bird flew over, and over and over. She grinned at that, blinked out and back to the living room. She was so happy with herself and Jen's success that she bounded over to hug her in glee. "You did that perfectly, Jen! See? Magic can be fun."

"Of course it can be fun. I know that. It's all the other stuff around it. The slavery, which **some** of us don't like. So, what now?"

"Anything you want!" Mindy said. "I could show you more of the TV show. Or I could do this!" Impulsively, she blinked at Jen, giving her the same figure. It made Mindy laugh heartily.

"Hey, quit it." She blinked herself back to normal.

"Why? I love playing tricks!" She blinked harder that time at Jen to make the figure-change permanent, she hoped. It made her giggle at doing that to another djinni.

"Oh yeah," Jen said. She blinked herself back to normal again, blinked a capped metal cylinder over Mindy and with another blink, sealed it to the floor. "I said quit it!"

Mindy easily blinked out of the cylinder, surprising the other two thoroughly. "Okay, I will quit. Spoilsport. At least we know you can cancel what was meant to be a permanent change by me."

"Hey, how could you do that? You were sealed in."

"It was not a magical container, like a bottle. The rules are different here, remember?"

Yosuf was intrigued, of course. "Very interesting. I think I'd like to see more of this fiction. It could teach us many things once we get back."

"Okay! I love watching the show, even if I can do so much more than Jeannie ever could." She blinked the three of them back to the couch in the study, still not remembering to ask Jen first.

"Do you want to see the next episode or go on to the next season? Oh! I can give you the boxed set of the DVDs, too," said, liking the idea of that as she blinked it up. Her version included outtakes, commentary and the cartoon show. She handed it to Yosuf.

"Absolutely," he said.

Jen shrugged.

"I guess," she sighed.

They spent the following hours sampling episodes from different seasons with time being slowed in the outside world. In reality, all three had forgotten for the moment that they had looped Time.

At one point, Jen leapt up and pointed to the screen. "Gilligan?" she shouted.

"The same actor," Mindy said. "Many actors appeared on _Jeannie_ and other shows, too. Are you familiar with a soap opera called _Dallas?"_ Jen nodded and for the next few minutes, she was shown clips from _Dallas._ They saw how similar a certain oil tycoon that Jen knew from TV looked to a certain astronaut that she knew from what she'd thought was real life.

As they were watching another episode and were about halfway through, Mirrilla popped into the room in front of Mindy. "I got here as soon as I could, Mindy. Your mother is learning as quickly as you, but we still needed to cover some basics. Are these the djinn you said are stuck here?"

"Yes. This is Yosuf and that is Jen. Somehow they came into our world from a story I was reading, or that I had just finished reading. There seems to be some magic imbedded in the end of the story. It should not be there, either."

"Wow, not even _I_ believe it when I hear it."

Yosuf perked up at the appearance of the 'new' version of a known djinni to him. "This is Marilla? Doesn't look like the Marilla I've seen before."

Once again, Jen had to admonish Yosuf's straying gaze. "Eyes on face, remember."

"You really are imagining things," Yosuf said.

"Maybe you should not have undone my blink after all, Jen," she said, smiling slyly to her.

Mirrilla ignored the nuanced dialogue between them and got to the point. "Can either of you tell me what you were doing before you appeared here? And Mindy, I need you to show me this story you were reading."

Yosuf spoke up, explaining things in his usual way. "We've been doing some experiments with the Past-Future Machine. Rather fascinating really. Not ever this immersive before but…"

"Oh, don't let him get started."

"I can explain, Mirrilla," Mindy said, launching into an understandable account of events. She then got up to blink the magic television panel out of the way of the computer screen and showed Mirrilla the online story.


	7. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 7

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~7~

"Not quite right but generally speaking," said Yosuf. "And then when Jen here showed up, the image on our screen switched to this room—Wait, not this room. But this house. And then there was a sort of emanation of magical energy, and Jen and I were here."

"Yes, that is unusual," Mirrilla said. "Okay, I am getting a better picture of this. Let me look a little deeper." She folded her arms to concentrate, focusing first on the magic in the online story and then closed her eyes. A full minute passed before she broke the connection. She looked strained as she faced them all. "This is magic beyond my ability to trace. I will take this to Hadji this evening. I suggest you make yourself at home with Mindy. I do not know how long this could take to solve."

"That does not sound good," Mindy said.

"And what happens in my world?" Jen asked. "Not that I mind being away from some of them, but they're going to think I fell off the earth."

"I don't think gravity works that way, and you shouldn't be able to be made to fall by magic. Especially with your boost," Yosuf noted rather densely.

"I have been to your world, Jen. I could go back and let someone know what has happened."

"Fine by me." She smiled, looking at the pamphlet on Masters. "Guess I could do with a break."

"I am pleased to hear you can blink into other dimensions, Mindy," Mirrilla said, smiling to her student. "You may very well be an elemental djinni! But, if you can go there, see if you can get their Past & Future Machine and bring it back to me. I think it may hold clues. If I cannot find them, Hadji may."

"And how's he likely to react?" asked Jen.

Mirrilla answered Jen, having sensed the mind of a young djinni still not fully adjusted to the magical life. "He will react as any good leader should, Djinni Jen: with wisdom and authority."

Jen was impressed with that answer and commented, "This _is_ a different world."

"Okay, I will try getting to the Past & Future Machine first. When I get back, Jen, I will need to know who I should notify about your absence first." Mindy blinked out to appear in the lab a moment later. She found the machine easily enough, what with all of the connections leading from it to other pieces of equipment. She just shrugged and blinked back to her world with all of it, appearing behind the couch in the living room. She blinked upstairs to let everyone know she was back and they all blinked downstairs together.

"Excellent," Yosuf said, dashing over to the machine and started looking into it. "Not a good view, I'm afraid."

Mirrilla had walked over to him, almost as interested. "May I look, please?"

Yosuf didn't respond right away, taking several seconds more to notice her before he raised his head from the viewer.

"What? Oh, yes. I suppose so." He moved out of the way for her, and noted the current problems with the machine. "Not that there's much to see at the moment. The adjustments aren't working properly either. It's all at random."

Mirrilla looked into the viewer, her arms folded to help her concentrate, especially with her eyes open. She held that stance half a minute before giving up and rubbing her eyes. "I see the same magic here as in the story in your computer, Mindy, but something is wrong, like it is incomplete in places and exaggerated in others. I do not understand. If there is anything else any of you can tell me about this, please do so now."

"Don't ask me, I just got zapped here," Jen complained.

"Well, there's no precedent for this," Yosuf said, "but we have been looking into many alternate timelines. That might've done something. Who can say? It's quite fascinating, really."

Mirrilla just sighed at Yosuf's explanations. One djinni was too inexperienced and the other too unfocused. She only hoped Hadji would have better answers. "Very well. I will return this evening to collect the Past & Future Machine. Do not move it. I suspect it may be soaking up magic every time it is transported." And with that, she blinked out.

"Sounds like the ideal thing to do would be to move it, then. Or at least duplicate it and move one of them," he said, thinking. "But it would probably have to be duplicated in our world, and then transported from there. We'll have to wait on that then."  
"Good," Jen said.

"Jen, I can go to your world again. Is there anyone in particular that you want me to talk to?" Mindy asked, turning to the other djinni. "And what about you, Yosuf? Who should I tell that you will not be returning in the near future?"

"I guess it should be Kashi or Marc, her hus—I guess you know about them. The idea that someone is 'reading' me. Don't really like that."

"Just leave a note for my secretary to cancel appointments indefinitely. Leave it—well, wherever it is in my office or the lab, she always finds it."

"Okay, I will be back in a minute!" Mindy blinked out, going first to the lab where she blinked up a note with Yosuf's instructions on it. She then blinked over to Marc and Kashi's house, appearing in Jen's empty bedroom. Folding her arms, she 'looked' through the walls to see if anyone was home, and spied Kashi in her bottle. Blinking over to their bedroom, she smoked inside and began the explanation to what was going on. She gave Kashi her assurances that Jen was and would be all right. She talked about the Mirrilla in her universe and that they could come back later that day.

Kashi was not the least bit happy with the events as they were, but understood it was out of her direct control at that point. She thanked Mindy for letting her know of Jen and Yosuf's troubles, asking the young djinni to blink back soon and keep her informed. She also asked Mindy to take Jen's bottle back to her. Mindy promised to do so, smoking out and up to Jen's bedroom to rematerialize. She grabbed Jen's bottle and blinked home to update everyone. She found them back upstairs in her study.

"I am back!" she said. "Here is your bottle, Jen. I thought you would want to sleep in it while you are here. I just love mine! I slept in it last night and I will use it again tonight. Can we smoke into yours? I would love to see it."

"You're kidding right? I've had to sleep in a bottle for two years. In a bottle. It's a bedroom for me tonight."

"Oh," Mindy replied dejectedly. She knew Jen was difficult, but why did she have to be that way with _everything?_ She got another idea that brightened her some and asked Jen. "Well, can we at least go inside? It is described a little but not too much detail. I looked in when I was at Kashi's, but I did not smoke inside."

"Sure, knock yourself out," Jen said.

Mindy nodded to Jen with a big grin and blinked both of them into her pink smoke. Mindy had done the same trick with Mirrilla the day before, so she knew what to expect when she had another djinni in the smoke with her. However, as Jen's magic was not the same vibration as her own, there was that strange difference between them, and the sensations would linger briefly once they changed back.

Mindy directed her magic to smoke the two djinn quickly into Jen's bottle, which floated in the air where she had just been holding it. Disappearing inside, they rematerialized again in seconds at the proper size. "Oh, this is lovely! I do not know why you do not want to sleep in here, Jen. The colors are just right."

"Hey! Ask first!" Jen complained as she staggered out of the smoke column. "And did you pull me into your smoke? That was—I haven't felt that bad from entering a bottle in years. And the colors—it's a bottle. People shouldn't be in bottles!"

"I am sorry, Jen. I am just so excited about being a djinni, that I am not always thinking about little things like that. Plus, we are not 'people'; we are Djinn!" she said, in a mild correction that did not hide her constant enthusiasm. "Did you not get excited when you found you had magic powers?"

Jen was pensive for a moment, thinking about that. "Yeah, a little. I had a lot of other things to think about, too. What—didn't you _read_ it?"

"Yes, but that has been a while since it was posted. And I was not a djinni back then, either. Look, I know you do not like the thought of having a master, but at least you do not have to worry about that right now. This is a vacation for you. Let us have some fun!"

"But tell me what you think might be fun and ask before we do it," Jen said.

"Well, what do you think about having fun with some humans? I have not done many pranks yet, and I would like to change some of them into things or mythological creatures and so forth. Just so long as we are blinking magic and having a good time together," she offered, smiling.

"What—? Are you crazy? No, just no! No going around changing people. You want to change someone into something, try yourself."

"Oh. Well, what do you do for fun?"

"I don't really have much time for that. I have to do all the _'Learn How to Be A Slave'_ classes. Or I have to take care of Janae's kids, in which case it's pretty much what they want to do. Unless it's messing around with people or breaking Janae's rules."

"Those rules do not exist here. You are free from those responsibilities now, Jen. Let yourself go for once. You will not get into trouble here, and I will not tell anyone. The only other djinni directly in my world is my mother, and I know she would want to do many of the things I like, too. We watched the show together as I grew up, and talked about doing some of the things Jeannie did, like looping the days of the week. Oh, wait a minute! You did not unloop it, did you?" As soon as she said that, Mindy wondered how Mirrilla and her mother had progressed through the hours of training if Time was not 'on' so to speak. She made a mental note to ask her about that.

"Oh, no!" Jen smoked out of the bottle, blinked and then checked the clock. "At least the clock's running right." She looked back into her bottle and shouted down. "There anything you like doing that doesn't involve doing things to people against their wills?"

Mindy blinked directly out of the bottle and behind Jen. "How about we change into something? My Master and I had a good time as flying horses last night."

Jen considered that, thinking it had a nice ring to it. "Flying horses? Well—as long as we don't spook anyone…"

"I took us back in time to ancient Greece. We could go there again. It is not like anyone would recognize us!" she added with a giggle.

"Whatever, it's your timeline. If it messes things up, it doesn't hurt me."

"I think time is more 'fluid' here," Mindy said. "I know I can change time in the past and not 'mess' things up here. It is like my present time is set for me and my world and cannot be changed unless I want it changed."

"Your timeline seems easy."

"Oh, I am sure there are some things that will not be so easy, but I have not discovered them yet. So, are you ready?"

"OK, but just take us there and change yourself. I'll handle me."

"Yosuf, would you like to go, too?" Mindy asked.

"What—well, maybe not to fly. But to see what the past is like here, what time travel is like. Now _that_ would be interesting."

"Okay." Mindy folded her arms up and blinked them all out. They reappeared on a bare mountaintop with Mindy in her normal pink Pegasus form, though she changed her mane, tail and feathering to the same red as her harem clothing. Jen and Yosuf stood in front of her. "Here we are! I figured appearing in civilized areas would just make you two nervous."

"Thanks," said Jen. "Okay, here we go." She blinked to change into a similar Pegasus, with red hair leaning towards the orange side and darker orange wings. She looked over to Yosuf to give him some advice.

"Don't get lost."

"Oh, no need to worry about me," he said.

Jen laughed in a manner that changed into a whinny. She stopped 'laughing' and sighed.

Mindy giggled at that, minus any whinny of her own. "Okay, let us go!" she said and trotted down the slope only a few meters, flapping her wings and took off.

Jen did the same as Mindy, following her into the air. "Wow—this is different than being a bird."

"It is, is it not? I could spend hours up here! Wheee!" Mindy said.

"Wait for me, I'm getting it." She flew after Mindy, getting better at controlling her form and flying ability.

Mindy slowed her flight a little, waiting for Jen. There were few clouds in the sky, so she blinked up a few more and headed for the nearest one. "Try to see how much cloud you can pull behind you when you exit the other side!"

"Would that really happ—I guess it doesn't matter." She flew through a cloud and pulled some of it after her. It filled her with pride as she asked, "How's that?"

"That is good. Try to angle your wings forward some. That grabs more of it." Mindy flew into another cloud and was halfway through when she heard her Master's call. She vanished without a blink, reappearing in his office, still a winged-horse. He admonished her for that, but softened at seeing her in that form and wanted to join her. Happy again, she blinked them back in time to the same cloud and two winged horses exited the other side, one all white with black for the hair and leading edges of his wings.

Jen was unaware that Mindy had disappeared and was trying harder at the cloud-pulling trick, doing better with each attempt. However, she saw the extra winged-horse with Mindy and stopped in mid air, hovering.

"Wait, who is that?"

Mindy and her Master flew over to Jen and hovered, too, though it was not Mindy that spoke first.

"Jeannie! What's going on? Who is that?"

"This will take some explaining Master. But this is Jen, a djinni from another universe. Jen, this is my Master!" She literally gushed with excitement at finally introducing her Master to Jen.

"Jeannie? Oh no, you don't have to give up your names here, to, do you?"

"I am not exactly sure about that. It is what he called me when I became his djinni. He is comfortable with it, so I do not argue."

Tony explained things to Jen as he saw it. "I know her name is Mindy, but I like calling her Jeannie. It seems to fit. Now, maybe we should call off the Pegasus games and someone explain things to me!"

"I see. And so now you're just flying here, as a horse—kinda. And you hear I'm from another universe, and you're just okay with that, are you?"

"Jeannie, take us down, so we, or I, can make sense of things."

"Yes, Master." Mindy blinked the three of them out and back into being on the mountaintop. She had changed her form and that of her Master into centaurs based on their previous horse bodies. She left Jen to change back on her own.

Jen blinked back to her human form again and had to comment on Tony's familiar looks. "And another person looks like him."

Mindy understood what she meant and giggled. "Yes, it is funny, how so many different people and masters in your universe look like him, is it not?" She looked to her Master, taking his arm in hers and motioned to Jen. "Master, Jen and her friend Yosuf somehow got trapped here when some magic I sensed in our world did something strange with their Past & Future Machine. Mirrilla has looked at it and will be consulting with Hadji this evening on how to solve things. For the time being, she and her friend will be staying with us until we can figure out how to get them back to their universe."

Tony looked confused, and then began to rub the sides of his head, as if fatigued.

"So here we are in ancient Greece no longer flying horses. Now what?" Jen asked.

Tony sighed heavily, looking up at Jen. "I'm sorry about whatever caused you to be here against your will, Jen. But, I could go for another fly, just to calm down, if Jeannie's okay with that..."

"Anything you want, Master, just ask and you shall receive!" She blinked the two of them back into their previous winged-horse forms and waited for Jen to do the same. Jen followed suit, ready to go again. Mindy and her Master launched directly into the air from their spot and flapped high above, not waiting for anyone, though Jen followed without much effort on her part.

"You said someone else was here, Jeannie? Joseph or something?"

"Yosuf, Master. He is another character from the same universe. They are actually from a story I was reading this morning. The magic I sensed was after the last of the text was done. I had wanted to blink into their universe to have some fun with Jen because she is another djinni about my age. Then the next I knew she and Yosuf came into our world and could not get back. But, I can blink there."

"There he is," Jen said, pointing with a wingtip. Yosuf was kneeling on the side of a mountain, blinking rocks into the air and looking under them. "We don't have to bring him with us, you know."

Mindy added a little more detail about him to her Master. "He is like a scientist for magic in his world. I think we should take Jen's advice and leave him alone for now." With that, the three of them climbed back into the air, though Tony managed to nudge Mindy away from Jen for a bit of frolicking in the clouds.


	8. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 8

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~8~

"So you're a Master, huh?" Jen asked Tony. They had all been having some fun for the past half hour, and were taking a break from the various acrobatics they had successfully attempted. That 'break' had the three of them gliding side-by-side with Tony on Mindy's right and Jen to her left. Mindy knew that would cause some hearing problems for him and ducked under to maneuver over to his right.

"Yes. And you are a djinni?" he asked.

"Yep," Jen answered.

"Cool," he said.

"And you're okay with owning someone?" she asked.

"I wouldn't say I 'own' her, but I do command her. She's not human any more. It's just not the same thing."

"It would feel the same to me," she said.

"That's just something I can't answer like you want me to. She's a magical being. I would think if she had that kind of power as a human, then there'd be nothing to stop her from doing whatever she wanted without limit or any human being able to stop her. A master can temper that power. It's a human controlling a magical being that only has a passing resemblance to a human. Maybe you should ask a sociologist about this instead."

Jen laughed at that suggestion. "A sociologist. A djinn sociologist? Well, I guess there could be."

"I don't know about a djinni one, but a human one might be able to answer you. Just make sure you're asking a hypothetical question and not going there in your harem clothes!" Tony laughed.

"So how'd you get her, anyway?" Jen asked.

Mindy and Tony answered simultaneously. "She wished for me." "I wished for him!" It made Jen wonder more about their relationship.

"And what, you just came into existence? Are _you_ the fake one here?"

"No, but things were changed in my life to match her wish. Such as my CO now being called Dr. Barrows; I can't remember what his name was before..."

"And you're okay with this?"

"If it means being able to fly as Pegasus and do any of the other magical things she's done so far, then the answer is a resounding 'Yes!'" Tony smiled to Jen, or in the only way a horse can.

"Okay, whatever. It's your life. Maybe."

"I think I'm going to need to read more of this story you come from. You sound pretty bitter for a djinni."

"Good guess," Jen said.

"Okay, whatever. I'm going to have some more fun. Catch me if you can, Jeannie!" Tony climbed high into the air, leaving the two djinn behind.

"Jen, you might want to relax and forget about the master stuff for now," Mindy said. "I know it is hard to forget while my Master is around, but I would not want to see anything happen to him if you two do not agree on this matter."

"I just don't get it. No one cares about having their entire self changed, overwritten, or dominated. This world is weird," Jen said.

"Oh, do not be so sure. My example has to do with a fantasy that has come true. There are still plenty of people that see things your way. Now, should we join him up there or not?"

"Okay," she agreed and the two of them flew higher into the sky, trying to catch Mindy's master without cheating.

They flew around the sky for several minutes, before Jen saw Yosuf below them and arced down to get close.

She saw that Dr. Yosuf was still checking rocks. The three winged-horses landed near him.

"There weren't always three of you," he noted.

Mindy blinked herself and her Master back into centaurs, leaving Jen to her blinks. "Yosuf, this is my Master, and this is Yosuf, Master!"

Jen blinked back to normal and commented on Mindy's change. "Half & Half, huh?"

"I _like_ being this way!" She hugged her Master from the side as she replied, getting his arm wrapped around her in response. He smiled to Jen as if to emphasize that their relationship was more than just slave and master.

"If she likes it so much, then I won't argue," Tony said.

"Your business," Jen said, and addressed Yosuf. "Find anything?"

"Oh, many things, so many. Not anything useful. Just the same but—with a different feel. I could take these things back to interact with the machine. Oh, these rocks don't feel any different than the world did when I first entered it. Time doesn't seem to be a factor. I think," he rambled, and then picked up a small stone. "Might as well check. The change could be subtle. Taking one shouldn't hurt."

"Do not worry about changing time, Yosuf," Mindy said. "I know nothing bad will come of it. Perhaps we should head home now? Master?"

"Yes, Jeannie, I'm ready. I'm also starved! Dr. Barrows almost worked me to death today. Everything went faster for some reason. That's why I called you so early."

"You know the way back," Jen said.

Mindy blinked all of them out and back to the Nelson house, appearing in the now crowded living room.

"What's all this junk? I recognize that thing in the middle, but what's the rest of it and why's it here? Jeannie?"

"I am sorry, Master. That is the equipment that may have caused them to be trapped here. I went and got it for Mirrilla to test and then she told me to leave it right there. She did not want it to soak up more magic from being blinked multiple times."

"Besides it's hardly junk," Yosuf said defensively, and stepped towards machine. "Now let's see what happens, Jen." Those words were just the ones you didn't ever want to hear him to say, thought Jen.

"Uh, should I be worried?" asked Tony. "What about you, Jeannie?"

"I do not know, Master, but I am not worried. I can travel to their universe and back, so nothing should happen to me. If it does, I will call on Mirrilla."

"Bad idea, Yosuf. Bad idea," Jen said.

"Nonsense. We need to understand. And it seems that having this close to the machine tells us nothing. But even that is a result."

Mindy did not like how things were going with Yosuf and his equipment. He seemed to be the epitome of the humans' 'absent-minded professor.' She had to speak up and remind him of things previously said and implied and fast.

"But I do not think Mirrilla would like it to be used at all until they can determine what is going on with the magic in it now."

"Yeah, so let's step away from it and just wait," Jen agreed.

"I agree," Mindy said. "Please, Yosuf, I know you are curious, but it can wait until this evening, or tomorrow or however long it takes my Hadji to discover what is going on.

"Well I hope she gets here soon," he said.

"Look, putting it off a few hours isn't going to hurt," Tony said. "I just want to eat something! My stomachs are growling as I speak..." Mindy giggled as she felt the rumbling, too.

"Then let us have a feast, Master! We can use my bedroom. I need to feed Zahra anyway." She blinked everyone up to the bedroom, blinked the bed away and replaced it with a feast large enough for everyone if they had all been centaurs.

"Well, just a little bit, I suppose," Yosuf said. Jen sat at the huge spread and took a small amount, silently.


	9. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 9

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~9~

For the next half hour as everyone ate and Mindy fed her Master, she brought him up to date on everything that had happened and what was still to come.

"So, how long are all of you stuck here?" Tony asked.

"Search me," Jen said, shrugging.

"All right!" Tony answered sarcastically. He immediately received an annoyed glare from Mindy, quelling his amusement.

"It is a difficult question, Yosuf began. "When people travel through time—at least the way our world works, when people travel though it, sometimes they become stuck in their new time until if they need to do something to make history consistent. The same may be true here." He then paused, pondering something. "Or we might be stuck forever because this is how the rules work. I can't be sure."

"But she was able to get out of our world," Jen said, pointing to Mindy.

"Yes. Still, that might be one of those strange little rules."

"I hate those," Jen mumbled.

"Well that sucks," Tony said, and then turned to Mindy. "And you say that Mirrilla has some answers?"

"Yes Master. She said she would be here sometime soon, whenever she finishes with my mother. Would you like to me blink over and check on them?"

"No, that's not necessary. No need to disturb your mother's training, especially if they aren't done. I know what it's like to have a training session stopped like that," he explained. "Well, I'm done eating. How about cleaning all this up, if everyone else is done and change me back? I have some reading to do for the week…"

"Fine by me," Jen agreed.

"As you wish." She blinked once, returning the room to normal while blinking herself and her Master standing and facing one another. That let her pull his head down for a deeply felt kiss that they held some time…

Jen looked away, though Yosuf didn't seem to notice anything.

Mindy and Tony finally broke it off, touched noses a few times and Tony was blinked out, her magic changing him back to human form again. She turned back to the others, ready for whatever was next. She had not changed herself back, and stood quite a bit taller than Jen or Yosuf.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Jen asked.

"I do not think so," Mindy replied, looking confused.

"Count the feet," Jen said, pointing at Mindy's hooves.

"I have four, as a centaur should."

"Okay, whatever," Jen said, shrugging.

Mindy snorted in mirth and blinked back to normal. "You really need to lighten up sometimes, you know."

"I'm having enough trouble being a genie. I—"

As they had all been talking, Dr. Barrows had driven up with some files he needed Tony to look over. When he got to the front door and attempted to walk in, he found the door locked. That was unusual for Maj. Nelson, especially with his car in the driveway. If he was home, maybe he left his patio doors open. A quick glance through the window would confirm that. However, upon seeing the Past & Future machine and all its equipment, he had to get inside right then. No one appeared to be around. With the patio doors open, Dr. Barrows went around and snuck in, listening for any sounds first. When he heard none, he cautiously approached the set-up. Some things were familiar and many were not. What was that old stereopticon doing in the middle of it all, he wondered, trying to get closer…

Dr. Barrows cautiously touched one of the buttons that had been added to the machine. The button beeped, and the machine momentarily flared into life.

"What?" he yelped, looking at the now working equipment in confusion.

Jen, Yosuf, and Mindy all looked in the direction from which they heard Barrows' yelp.

"What was that? Who was that?" Jen asked in surprise.

Mindy folded her arms to 'look' through the floors and walls, quickly spying Dr. Bellows. "It is that nosey Dr. Barrows, my Master's commanding officer! Why is his timing always the worst? I locked the front door, but…" she said, looking further around and saw the open patio doors. "Oh. I forgot to close the back doors this morning. I hope he did not change anything on the Past & Future Machine…"

"Barrows. Like Bellows?" Jen asked.

"Yes, he is the same, mostly. And certainly the same for walking in on either Jeannie's 'Tony' or mine. I honestly do not understand why he thinks he can just walk into my Master's home whenever he wants!" Mindy huffed.

"It didn't make sense why he could just bust in on the Nelsons when I was in the past," Jen noted, and paused, looking worried. "Almost makes it seem like our world really is a TV show after all."

Just then, Mindy heard Zahra blink and looked over to see her tiger was gone. She panicked at what that might have meant and blinked out, too. She remained vanished so she could see Zahra wherever she went and found her where she had not wanted to see her: in the living room behind Dr. Barrows.

Zahra immediately 'spoke' telepathically to Dr. Barrows. *Are you a friend of Mindy's Master?*

Dr Barrows heard a sultry female voice in his head as it asked if he was a friend of someone's 'master?' Was he going insane? He'd never heard voices before. However, he did hear some deep breathing behind him and when he looked back he practically jumped out of his skin. He wasted no time getting out of that house, even if he ran over a few pieces of equipment in the process.

As soon as Dr. Barrows was out of the house, Mindy appeared next to Zahra, patting her on the head. "Good job, Zahra! Good job. I had better get Yosuf down here, though. I am afraid the 'doctor' has messed things up a bit. She telepathed to both Jen and Yosuf what had happened, asking him to come and look.

Jen reacted not so positively to Mindy's telepathy. "Aaa! Oh, when will things stop seeming weird? OK, I'm coming." She and Yosuf then blinked downstairs to Mindy.

"Dr. Barrows 'barreled' over some of the things here, trying to get away from Zahra. I hope he has not created even more problems for you," she said to Yosuf.

"Perhaps," he replied and started looking at items. "Can't be sure whether the state of this thing helps get us back, but that's only one concern."

"Only one?" Jen asked, concerned. Yosuf explained what he meant.

"There's all the research we've done about other worlds with this machine. And now, its first visit to a strange, new world with different genies and a different history and a connection to a story that resembles our own history. Incredible. And I wouldn't want us to lose it even if it is irrelevant to getting home. Which it may not be."

Jen bit down on her lip over that last part. "Well, make sure it works."

Yosuf didn't respond but started examining the machine, blinking a few times to rearrange dislodged components.

"Should we leave you alone?" Mindy asked.

"He probably won't notice," Jen said, sounding slightly wistful.

Mindy noticed the tone in Jen's voice, making her think of the suggested romance between her and Yosuf. Maybe then was the time for some talk on that subject, she thought.

"Why do we not go upstairs again, Jen? We can talk in the study some more. I am blinking us up there now, just so you know." She blinked the two of them and Zahra out and into the study, the two djinn landing seated on the couch. Mindy mentally told Zahra to go back to her spot so the two of them could be alone.

"Hey, I said _ask_ before you blink me somewhere," Jen complained.

"I thought you had said to just 'tell' you. I am sorry about that," Mindy apologized.

"Well now I mean ask." She paused as she looked at Mindy, hands in her lap. "Anyway, what is this all about?"

Mindy fidgeted for a minute before she sighed and looked up at Jen. "I know you do not like me to say 'the story' but that is the only way I know some things about you and Yosuf. I have watched you two grow closer..."

"What?" Jen was shocked Mindy would say such a thing, getting defensive about it.

"Well, the last I read, you had just kissed Yosuf, and rather impulsively, I might add," she said, giggling. "And ever since you both got stuck here, I have seen how you help him stay focused away from looking at me in other ways. I just want to say that there is no need to be jealous of me. I love my Master, Jen."

"You're crazy. Yusuf's an idiot."

"Well, this _is_ another universe," Mindy noted with a chuckle and kept her smile to Jen. "Maybe it is affecting you both."

"Don't look at me like that… I was under a potion's influence. I wasn't myself." Jen blushed bright red at that.

"Yes, that is true," Mindy said, "but you are not under its influence now, or I would hope not."

"Look, there's no way—no way—" she stammered, finally throwing up her hands in exasperation. "Why are we talking about this? I bet that story you read isn't right. It's words, not me."

In the same moment, Mirrilla appeared in the living room behind Yosuf, and immediately reacted to the sight of him working on his equipment, her fists on her hips in her anger. "I thought I told you not to touch anything on that?"

"I suppose you might've. But it doesn't matter. Some man burst into the house and started messing with it. I'm lucky to have gotten it back together so quickly."

"Oh. Very well. Connect things as they were before and do not operate it. We need it as intact as possible. Now, where are Mindy and Jen?"

"They popped out. Could be anywhere," he said and paused. "You might try shouting."

"Djinn do not shout." She folded her arms, closed her eyes and expanded her senses to include the whole house. She found them, opened her eyes and blinked up to the study.

"There you are!" Mirrilla said. "Mindy, we are ready to go to see Hadji. Let us gather with the Past & Future Machine." With that said, she blinked the three of them down to the living room again. "Yosuf, have you finished piecing it back together?"

"You think djinn don't shout?" he asked, shaking his head. "How very strange. Everything I can repair has been." He even turned it on for a few moments to demonstrate his success. "It does work, at least as well as it did since arriving here."

Mirrilla did not like seeing him switch it on, but did not want to scold him again. He did not appear to listen to his elders. She knew whatever she said to him would not penetrate either. "Very well. Just stand where you are, everyone. I am smoking us into Limbo now."

"Into Limbo. Great."

Mirrilla folded her arms to nod hard with her blink, turning all of them and the equipment into indigo-blue smoke. She did not have to teleport by smoke, but it was easier when taking a large group and objects into their extra-dimensional home. A barrier of magic was crossed in their quick journey, though she hardly noticed it. The reaction incurred by the others was not so blithely ignored.


	10. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 10

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~10~

Mindy had experienced being smoke with Mirrilla several times before her mentor's travel-smoking. And there was the one time earlier in the day when Mindy smoked Jen with her into that djinni's bottle. It was still a fun thing to do, because she felt the power of the other djinni sharing her smoke and vice versa. However, as she had discovered with Jen, it might not have been such a pleasing feeling for those not of her universe. She had to wonder what was going through their minds that time as the journey into Limbo had a very different and stronger feel than simply smoking with another djinni. She felt the energy of the travel-smoking, sensed the pathway into Limbo and the washing through to her very core by that barrier of magic. She understood what it was the moment she crossed, yet had never known such power before in her short djinni-life. She could hardly wait for the few seconds left to their journey to pass and they arrived in Limbo!

To Jen, the sensation of again being pulled into someone else's smoke, like being on a roller coaster, was more noticeable than any passing into yet another world.

Because Mirrilla had taken the journey from and back to Limbo many times in her life, she was able to ignore the intense feelings generated by crossing their barrier. That was a good thing, enabling her to better pay attention to where they were deposited. In this instance that was in the great hall of Hadji's palace. The enormous collection of buildings, apartments, courtyards and gardens was both his home and where the many djinn gathered when issues of the Djinn needed that extra guidance Hadji gave.

"Here we are! I will go to Hadji first. He may want to talk to any of you privately, so please be ready." She blinked out and left the others alone in the cavernous hall.

Jen stumbled out of smoke, and looked around. "Oh, that still feels weird." Yosuf also looked unsteady, but said nothing as he looked around. "Wait," she asked. "This is limbo? A lot of stuff here to Limbo, isn't there?"

"It seems their version of Old Baghdad has another name. And another different feel," Yosuf said. He took in a deep breath, taking note of things around him. "The sense of power here. Far greater than back home."

"I know what you mean! I can feel the difference in power," Mindy said, "and I felt it when we crossed the magic barrier. I wonder if it has to do with all of the djinn living here?"

"More than that, I think," Yosuf said. "But your reality may concentrate power more readily. In fact," he said, trying a blink as some test. "Yes, a rough census suggests that there are far many more djinn living in our Old Baghdad. Far many more. And yet, here we have this feeling. It should be interesting to explore." He blinked in a set of golden dowsing rods with computer equipment and a small screen attached to each and began taking measurements.

"I do not yet know how many are here. Maybe they will tell us if we ask. I wonder where everyone else lives...?" Mindy mused aloud, still in awe of the place. She could certainly blink up a palace of similar splendor if her Master ever wished it, but the present sense of power would be missing from the overall feel of her creations.

Mirrilla and another djinni appeared a short distance away from the group and began walking over. Upon getting closer, Mindy could tell the other djinni looked like the same Hadji from the show, though his demeanor did not seem as foreboding. Nonetheless, when he and Mirrilla stopped about ten feet away, Mindy dropped to her knees, genuflecting in proper djinni-respect. "Salaam alaikum, Great Hadji!"

Hadji returned the greeting appropriately and with a calmer voice than even the IDoJ version. "Wa alaikum salaam, Djinni Mindy! You may rise. Mirrilla tells me that your two friends are from another universe, one that you had planned on visiting earlier today?"

Mindy got to her feet, nervous about meeting him and trying to get composed in his presence, managing eventually. "Yes, Great Hadji. I had my arms folded when I sensed a different kind of magic emanating from the story in the computer screen. And then they popped in behind me," she explained and pointed to the other two. Hadji nodded before addressing Jen and Yosuf.

"And can either of you two tell me what you sensed when that happened?"

Jen looked nervously at Haji, and shrank back, looking as small as she could without magic.

"Uh—" Jen started, then looked at Yosuf, "you go."

"Great Haji," Yosuf said with a bow, "with a partner, I've been spending the last several years in my world combining magic with human technology to discover what had been learned. We have been able to adjust the Past-Future machine to look into different worlds. We have delivered several secrets already from the investigation. The vision has always fluctuated randomly, and just before we appeared in your world, we saw an image of Genie Mindy sitting in front of a human computer and blinking."

"Interesting," Hadji said. "We have some djinn here who have kept up with the technological advances of humans, seeing how magic works with it and if technology can have any affect on magic. They have discovered that while human technology cannot influence magic, the technology will work in unexplained ways if influenced by magic. I think that they would like to have a deeper look at what you have done here."

"Yes, Great Haji," Yosuf said. "I'd be perfectly willing to take the machine and work with them while we're waiting to find a way home. It might even be the key to provide us with the answer. But I must warn you that it does seem to work differently in this universe than ours. I can't say precisely what will happen. And of course, whenever I find a way home, I'll have to go back to my Old Baghdad and discuss this with my Great Haji—uh—Great Haji."

"Excellent, Yosuf," Hadji replied. "I will set up everything necessary with them. Mindy, I need to see you and Mirrilla in private please," he said and then addressed the other two, "We will be back soon. Please make yourself comfortable. Your own use of magic is not forbidden here."

"Yes, Great Hadji," Mindy replied. Hadji blinked three of them out, leaving Jen and Yosuf behind and alone.

Jen let out a sigh and staggered back. "It's so hard being around him."

"It's easy to forget, but you've never been with him before. He's a different version of Haji, even if he looks the same."

"Too close for me," Jen said.


	11. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 11

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~11~

Mindy, Mirrilla and Hadji returned some minutes later, and Mindy looked somewhat surprised. She stepped over to Jen and Yosuf, like she wanted to tell them something. Hadji motioned to Yosuf as he spoke.

"Come with me, Djinni Yosuf, and I will take you to see the others."

"Others? Oh, yes. Yes, of course, Great Haji." He stepped closer to the djinni-leader, "Wait, did you say _Genie_ Yosuf," he asked just before Hadji blinked himself, Yosuf, & the equipment out. In their world, "Genie" was used only for female djinn.

"I just learned that they think my advanced powers could be related to how you and Yosuf got here, Jen," Mindy said. "Something to do with me maybe being an elemental djinni. Another possibility could be that there is magic in my family lineage. They are not sure…"

"More djinn getting into a human's pants, huh?" Jen said. "Our worlds aren't so different after all."

Mindy laughed at Jen's characterization of events as things did appear that way after all.

"Perhaps not. I am glad it happened to me, but I never wanted to see things turn out like this. I am sure we will find out how to get you and Yosuf back to your world soon, Jen." She hugged her friend briefly in heartfelt friendship.

Jen tensed for a moment at the hug, then relaxed a little, and patted Mindy awkwardly on the back.

Mindy then looked back to Mirrilla, questioningly. "Mirrilla? What do we do now?"

Mindy's djinni-teacher stepped over to her side, a hand on her pupil's shoulder as she answered. "We wait for Hadji's return and then we will go to see your mother. She mentioned today that she has traced your family back many generations. We will look at her records for anything unusual. Both of you have Arabic features to your looks, so that is a clue."

"Oh right! I forgot she had that." Mindy was excited at looking at the genealogical records now, especially if it might tell them why they were such powerful djinn. "I can hardly wait!"

Hadji returned near their group a moment later, nodding to Mirrilla. "Yosuf fit into that group like he was a long lost colleague! I feel he will make progress with them in this matter. Now then, are you and Mindy going to look into her lineage?"

"Yes, Great Hadji. We were just discussing that topic. We will return when we know more."

"Excellent. I expect a report by no less than tomorrow morning. You may go now." Mindy and Mirrilla bowed and said their farewells together.

"Thank you, Great Hadji," said Mirrilla. She then folded her arms and blinked to change herself, Mindy and Jen into her smoke, taking them away from Limbo.


	12. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 12

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~12~

The interior of Djinni Pamela's and her master's home was no longer that of a typical family house. She had since used her powers to transform it all into the kind of Persian palatial style and size befitting a djinni of her power, leaving the exterior the same for the neighbors. The only problem was if anyone came over for a visit. Luckily, that had not happened, yet. Pamela was serving her master in the main dining hall when Mindy, Mirrilla and another djinni smoked in. She and her master were on their feet immediately. She brightened when she saw her daughter and blinked over for a happy hug.

"Mindy! It is good to see you again. How are you adjusting to your new life? And what do you think of the house now?" she asked, waving an arm wide at the expansive room, furnishings and lavish details. Mindy was not in as much awe as for a human, but it still made her smile.

"It looks magnificent, Mama! Hi Papa!" Mindy waved, and then turned to introduce Jen. "And this is my friend, Jen. She is another djinni, but she is not from our world. Let me explain…" She launched into the story of Jen and Yosuf, their journey to Limbo and their meeting with Hadji. Pamela's face brightened at hearing how her daughter had already been privileged enough to meet their previous leader, even if it was for a less than positive reason. When Mindy was done, Pamela greeted her friend properly.

"I am pleased to meet you, Jen. Make yourself at home. Our house is your house for as long as you stay. I hope we are all able to discover a solution to this problem."

"And just like that you accept the situation." Jen shook her head, baffled at the reaction to them just showing up. She turned to Mindy's father and asked, "And what do you think about this?"

Stephen had walked around the end of the feast by then, joining his djinni at her side and smiled to Jen. "I think it's a good idea to let you stay here. It's not like we don't have the room… I'm still getting used to the existence of magic, but Pamela's helping me with that adjustment. I certainly don't mind not having to work any more!"

"Just don't let anyone who shouldn't know about this see what's going on here," Jen said.

"Jen, relax! I have some illusions in place to keep anyone from seeing things inside that they should not. I just have not figured out how to allow humans inside if a neighbor wants to visit. But I do not think that will be a problem. We have several apartments in other parts of the palace if you want to look. Take your pick and adjust it to your tastes."

"Jen, this is a wonderful offer," Mindy said. "You will not have to sleep in your bottle and my Master will worry less about anything happening with Dr. Barrows."

Pamela snorted a laugh at hearing that similar name. "Dr. Barrows?"

"He is my Master's commanding officer, Mama. I _did_ wish for my Master to be like Tony Nelson, so I got the whole package."

"OK, but to be clear. I do get a bed," Jen said. "A real sized bed—in a room—with wooden walls and no air-tight seal… Right?"

"Here, let me show you," Pamela replied and blinked out with Jen, making Mindy wince.

"I should have told her to ask before she blinked with Jen," Mindy said.

Pamela and Jen appeared in a large bedroom, much larger than the one Mindy had blinked up. There were several openings to the outside with balconies, only they had scenes other than the neighborhood around the house. It was all much the same as in Mindy's study.

"If you want to change the room, go ahead. I do not mind."

"Great, thanks. But seriously, ask me if you want to blink me somewhere. Just ask. There are some great things about your world - really great things. But it doesn't seem like anyone asks before they blink me somewhere."

"Okay, I will. Mindy and I are very impulsive with our powers, much like Mirrilla. I will do my best to quell that urge. Now then, have you eaten today? Mirrilla finished with my training earlier and I was just beginning to feed my Master. I can add more if you like."

Jen smiled at the offer. "Sure, thanks."

"That is better!" Pamela said. "Now, may I blink us down there to join my family?"

"As you wish," Jen said.

Pamela laughed at Jen's choice of words. "That is _my_ line!" She then blinked the two of them back to the dining hall and blinked the feast big enough for five.

"Please, everyone, join us," Pamela said as she sat down in her Master's lap and began floating food to him as before.

"Thank you, Mama, but I am not very hungry. I just fed my Master an hour ago for a late lunch. May I have some Turkish coffee and baklava instead?"

"Certainly! It is over there. I hope you will join us, too, Mirrilla. You have not eaten since noon, either"

"Thank you, Pamela," Mirrilla said. "When we are done, we need to look at your genealogical records. There may be something in them that we need in our dilemma."


	13. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 13

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~13~

Later, all of the djinn and Pamela's master were in the study, a room quite similar to Mindy's, making both briefly comment about each other's related tastes in palatial décor. A large table had been blinked up to hold all of the family records for easier study by Mirrilla. The books were written in a style such that they contained listed names of members of each generation one after another. Thus, they were all crowded over the books.

"I've been able to trace some as far back as 16th century Europe. Others are complete mysteries," Pamela explained.

"And there's the Lebanese ancestry," Mindy said. "That might be significant."

"Yes, it could be. But I cannot take that farther than about 1850 and… Wow." Pamela had stopped on a certain branch, holding her fingers above it, yet not wanting to touch the paper for some reason.

Everyone but Mirrilla replied in surprise, "What?" The older djinni held a hand over the branch, sensing it as she suspected Pamela had also done.

"Mindy, you stated that when you were reading the story from which your friends traveled that there was magic in the text? I am sensing that here!" Mirrilla said, pointing excitedly to a branch.

"How can this be?" Mindy asked.

"It means that somewhere in your family you had more than just a casual contact with a djinni," Mirrilla said.

"I feel it, too," Jen said. "It's sort of like the energy that burst of out the Past-Future Machine that brought us here, only not quite as strong." Something made Jen shiver and she backed up. "Even if it has something to do with you, what would it have to do with me?"

"We do not know," Mirrilla said. "But this information is most helpful for determining why Mindy and Pamela are akin to elemental djinn. It needs to be traced further, this time by magic. That is, one or more of you must travel back in time with me to find the origins of this branch. I find this highly unusual that they would have djinn-ancestry and not still be djinn in the present. It is also suspect that this and your problem have occurred so close together, Jen. There may be a connection that we cannot yet sense. I would like to go in the morning with Mindy and you. If there is a connection in the past about this, we will find it."

Jen sighed at learning that. "Is this going to be dangerous?"

Mirrilla laughed and then smiled to Jen, wondering why a fellow djinni would think such a thing. "To a djinni? No, dear, it will not be dangerous."

"I hope so," Jen said. "But we don't have to go right now, do we?"

"No," Mirrilla replied, "we will leave in the morning. Perhaps Yosuf should come along, too. I will tell him of our plans when I return to Limbo."

"I actually get to wait around for a bit in this world?" she asked, smiling at the thought. "Good."

Everyone was then in agreement and parted ways until the next morning.


	14. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 14

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~14~

Mirrilla, Mindy, and Yosuf returned to the house of Pamela's Master, a term Mindy was still getting used to. They all appeared in the study to find Jen and Pamela by yesterday's new reading table. Mindy's mother was looking over their books, though there a few more that had not been there the night before.

"I went looking for more records, but I do not think these will help. I do not sense magic in them."

"Yeah, me neither," Jen added.

"Very interesting time last night. Their magical techniques are quite different in areas, and this augment Mindy gave me is letting me combine our abilities in quite surprising ways. And the machine is behaving too differently, too."

"Hello to you, too," Jen said.

Mindy noticed Jen's reaction and smiled to herself. She dropped that look and addressed Jeannie's cousin. "Mirrilla, what do we do now?"

"We need to go back in time to see that ancestor," Mirrilla explained. "From there, you can follow that ancestor back to the birth and find his or her parents, then their parents. When the trail ends, we know we have found the person with the mysterious connection to the djinn."

"Could this djinn that we're looking for—could he be from this world, or maybe mine?" Jen asked. "Could he be my father?"

"That is doubtful, but as we know with magic, anything is possible." She folded her arms up before looking at Mindy, Jen and Yosuf. "If you have no more questions, let us go."

Jen looked at Yosuf, who was silent. She nodded to Mirrilla that they were ready.

With their permission, Mirrilla blinked the four of them out, traveling back through time the 150 years to Ellis Island and the immigration offices. She sensed the person was in records and made the four of them appear in miniature on a shelf overlooking the processing desks and personnel. "When we find the correct person, we need only follow his or her life back, sensing for the magic as we go."

"This is so exciting! I can hardly wait to find out," Mindy said, and Jen piped up similarly.

"Me, too," Jen said. "I want to know why I was dragged into this."

Yosuf looked around the crowd and then pointed to a person from the Middle East in clothing dirty for weeks as a steerage passenger. He was waiting in line to be allowed entrance to America. "There he is!"

"Yes, that is our man, Yosuf," Mirrilla said. "We must now look into the aura of magic. There will be another marking of the magic at the appropriate time. You may sense the branching of the other family members that also get the magic, but we are not concerned with them at this time. Just connect to that bit of magic and follow either the mother or father as you sense it. We may be here for some time…"

Mindy folded her arms up and concentrated on the man's aura, looking into it with ease and finding the connection to the magic in the past. She was so excited at finding it that she broke the connection.

"Oh! I found it!" Mindy said. "Oh wait, I lost it. Sorry."

"Keep your arms folded and concentrate harder," Mirrilla suggested. "You cannot lose the connection at any point or you will have to start over." Mindy did as Mirrilla said and began anew.

Jen and Yosuf did the same, although Jen was uncertain about her sensing ability with them, continually looking back and forth between Mindy's ancestral connector and Mirrilla. Even so, they all managed to link in and blinked as one.


	15. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 15

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~15~

And again as one, they arrived…

"Oh—now…" Jen gasped and collapsed. She was able to at least look around at their surroundings as Mindy helped her up again. "Where are we?"

"We are in Babylon," Mirrilla said.

"Did we hit something?" Jen asked, still shaken.

"I feel like I have had my arms up forever!" Mindy complained, trying to get some circulation going again in her limbs as Mirrilla explained things.

"That was the last instance of magic and likely the djinni that started it," Mirrilla told them. "We must have tumbled past that point and now we must find him or her."

"Hey, look there," Jen said, pointing at a woman in the sparse group of people in the street. The woman appeared in her early twenties, in the dress of a common woman.

"That feels—well not like the magic. But looking at her, it makes me think of that final bump on our ride back here." Jen then noticed more about where they were. "Wow—wow… It's so alien. This is the past. Not even my past."

"Nowhere near as exotic as your world," said Yosuf, and then to Mindy, "either of your worlds. That's the true, alien, fascinating culture."

Mirrilla looked closely at the woman, and nodded. "I think you are right, Jen. There _is_ something about her. But she is not a djinni."

"Do you suppose she is my ancestor, too?" Mindy asked.

"Perhaps, but we need to find out more."

Mindy used a little telepathy to look into the mind of the woman, discovering nothing useful or seeming to have anything to do with the djinn. She dropped out of her mind and probed her aura, gasping when she felt that bit of magic again. Only it wasn't exactly there; more like it had the potential to be there. She told the others what she had seen.

"Then that is our woman, Mindy," Mirrilla said. "She is destined to be with a djinni. We need only discover when to find him."

"So, now what do we do?" said Jen.

"Let me look as Mindy did." Mirrilla looked into the woman's aura using telepathy instead of just magical sense and found a bit of additional aura Mindy had overlooked. She dropped the connection and looked at Jen. "We as a group do nothing. It is Jen that makes contact. I saw part of your aura in her future besides that of the other djinni."

"Me?" Jen asked. "Why me?"

Yosuf gave one of his 'answers' to Jen. "It does make sense. Why else would we have been brought?"

"Why else would I be brought…" She stood face to face with him; head tilted up for one moment and started to lean close to him as if to give him a kiss, then stopped herself. "Why would I be brought? What about you?"

"Maybe I have something else to do. Maybe my work with these other djinn is important for them, or us, or both."

"Oh, fine. So how am I supposed to do this?"

"Just approach her and ask what she is doing tonight," Mindy said. "Oh, maybe they do not do things in the evenings here like we do."

Mirrilla ignored Mindy's inexperienced comment and addressed Jen again. "Simply expand your power of empathy. It is like telepathy as you know, only with feelings. Connect to her and see if she has feelings for someone. If she does, see if you can sense if it is of the djinni. If there are no such feelings, then we will have to try to find him on our own and direct them together."

"Okay, sure." Jen closed eyes and concentrated. She focused for a few moments, and then shouted: "No I do not like—" Mindy and Mirrilla looked at her, puzzled. "Nothing, just kinda missed." She concentrated again, and looked like she made a contact. "Uh… I feel something like, I guess an echo." She pointed in a direction away from the woman. "That way."

"Excellent, Jen!" Mindy said. "Blink us to where you feel it is coming."

"Okay. Hold tight." She blinked them all out and Mindy noticed a slight smile on Jen's face just before they vanished. She took it to mean that Jen was still enjoying having her augmented powers, and that made both of them happy.

They reappeared outside of an unassuming residence in what looked like the merchants' area of the city. People were dressed better and did not seem to notice the four djinn, at least by clothing alone. There was nothing to indicate who lived there, but that was normal for the most part. The single door was all wood and heavily fortified with brass. There was no other apparent entrance.

"I sense magic here," Mirrilla said. "It is very strong."

"I feel it, too!" Mindy said.

"So does that mean we go in or run away?" Jen asked.

"It means that we must introduce ourselves," Mirrilla said, "We can get to the subject at some point in the conversation."

Jen acted first and blinked the door open. "After you."

"Very well," Mirrilla said as they all walked inside and into what should have been the lobby of a huge palace. The main colors were of azure and gold. She was not surprised in the least that he would have such an interior and the heavy door made sense. The others followed her in and they stood in the middle of the lobby. "Salaam to the djinni of the house! We are visiting djinn from another time and wish to discuss a matter of importance with you."

"Forget times," Jen said. "Some of us are from another world. I came to a different universe and then went back in time and now can't go back thanks to you. So are you going to show up, or am I going to have to see what my extra powers can do?" she called out. A strange knocking sound rang out from the distance; Jen stepped back.

Mindy was surprised by Jen's brashness with an unknown djinni. "Are you sure you wanted to do that?"

Jen shook. "No."

"Ok-a-ay…" Mindy replied.

Mirrilla called out again, hoping to get an audience with him. "Please let us talk with you. We have traveled a long distance in time to discuss our problem with you."

A man's voice was heard in the air around them, but he remained unseen. "And why should I trust you? I am one of five of my kind left in the world. No one is allowed out of Limbo, unless Hadji sent you?"

Jen muttered, "Haji wouldn't send me anywhere but a bottle."

Yosuf took a turn speaking up then. "We came looking for answers."

"It is very important we talk to you, sir!" Mindy called. "It has to do with me being a djinni in my time, thousands of years from now. I wished to be a djinni and now I am an elemental djinni as are you and my friend here," she added, pointing to Mirrilla. "Yet I was not born to the djinn. This is not supposed to happen, and we were led to you."

"And hey, don't forget about me," Jen said. "I was brought from another world. Some magic brought me here, and then I keep following it back in time to that woman the next street over and you."

The djinni did not respond right away, making the others think he was not going to. "How did you find her?"

"Don't ask me," Jen said. "We followed the magic trail back in time. I went here because something made me. So who is she to you?"

Azure smoke rose from the floor before the group, causing most of them to step back, save Mirrilla. The form of a handsome and well-dressed djinni appeared, with his arms crossed over his chest. His clothing was in the same colors as that of his palace and smoke, heavy on the azure. He looked sternly at them all first though with some recognition of Mirrilla.

"I know you," he said. "No, I think it was your sister I once met. I am Lohrasb. You are welcome in my abode. Let us sit and have some wine." He blinked all of them out, taking them to a smaller room reminding Mindy of an old style human 'sitting room' complete with divans and upholstered chairs, all in Persian designs and his colors. He motioned for them to sit, appearing more cordial than before.

Jen was upset from the teleport and blurted out, "Ask—" just as Mirrilla put her hand over Jen's mouth.

"This is nice! I should add something like this to my Master's house later," Mindy said, looking around. Mirrilla took that moment to speak to their host.

"Thank you, Lohrasb. It is most kind of you to seat us here. Our tale is not long, though there are many important details to consider. I will start with Mindy's side of it first, as without her inclusion into our world none of this would have taken place," Mirrilla explained and launched into the full set of stories.


	16. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 16

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~16~

Lohrasb listened intently. Soon, they were discussing his time in the world and how things related to their dilemma. He pondered it all for a minute before adding another fact he knew.

"I tried to see the future, to see a time when the djinn would truly return from Limbo once more. I found that I could not perceive anything of the future. My view was blocked."

"Just as we could not escape the past," Yosuf added.

Mirrilla nodded in understanding to Lohrasb. "Yes, I know of this block. I was not part of making it, but the Hadji of our time mentioned it would be the case for the last of those in the human world. We will not return to this world even then, but we think that you are part of causing magic to return through the humans. The woman Jen mentioned is key to this and Mindy's existence as an elemental djinni. She is the first of many and will be their leader as their numbers grow. That is because she is related to you and the human woman, if indirectly. We do not know why magic is in her lineage. Something must take place in this time that we cannot yet sense."

"Hadji would do such a thing; he has always had ulterior motives," Lohrasb said with a frown.

"Hey, don't use destiny as an excused to—you know—to that woman." Jen looked away as she said it. Her comment made Lohrasb smile.

"Are all of the djinn like you in your world, young djinni?" he asked.

Jen laughed at the idea of that.

"I would guess that is a 'no'? As I thought. No matter, I know what you mean and I do have feelings for her. My hope was to let her have a djinn-child under Hadji's notice as it were. I would be back in Limbo by the time of its birth, and no one would be the wiser."

"Who is she?" Jen asked.

"I suppose I could say that she is just a pretty human woman I bumped into at the market. But I know none of you would take that seriously. I chose her because I am responsible for her family's loss of their wealth and stature. I wanted to give her some magic in her life beyond simply making it all better again. A djinni son or daughter would have accomplished that and kept our presence in the human world."

"That would never have worked, and you know it!" Mirrilla scolded. "A djinni child cannot be raised by human parents. There is no telling what havoc she would have caused growing up. I understand your sensibilities in this regard and they are commendable, if misdirected."

"Tell that to Anthony Robinson," Jen quipped.

"Who?" she asked.

"In my world," Jen explained. "Jeannie Nelson married Colonel Nelson and they had kids. Their genie daughter married a human being and had twin genie daughters then a sort of half-djinn son."

"You use strange, awkward words. Half-djinn," Lohrasb said. "Even the way you say 'djinni.' As for my life here in the human world, there is nothing in Hadji's laws or from the rest of the djinn that says I cannot take a human wife. We are becoming close and I am not leaving the human world for another century or more."

"Does she know what you are?" Jen asked.

"I have not told her, and do not think I will. Any problems the child may cause magically, I will sense and correct. However, I will not be in her life. I am trying to start a new generation of djinn without Hadji's influence."

"You haven't—or aren't going to another world, are you?" Jen asked.

"What other worlds are there than Limbo?" he asked.

"We told you that we're—never mind," Jen said, muttering, "You're not the worst Dad I coulda had."

"What makes you think that I am your father? But I _am_ intrigued about the idea of other worlds. How do you get to them?"

"Can't tell you," Jen said. "I didn't choose to get here."

"He could learn to visit other worlds because of this conversation," Yosuf suggested.

"Hey, I only asked because it happened. How could it happen before it—happened?" Jen asked.

"A predestination paradox, I believe it's called," Yosuf replied and smiled. "Very rare."

Jen looked at Lohrasb, shaking and scared.

"Then fate is in my favor," he said. "I have met her once through her family, but have not yet approached her with my intentions for love. I sensed some attraction from her, though that is not unexpected," he added, smiling to no one. Mindy certainly understood because she had found herself attracted to him, too. If she had not already been in love with the master she had, and not related to Lohrasb, she could see herself with him. He was very handsome and quite kind to others.

"In a way, Lohrasb, you are also caught in a predestination paradox," Yosuf said. "Mindy here is evidence that you did connect with this human woman's love. It means you must do what you did."

"Don't worry what that means," Jen suggested. "Just do it. If she's willing."

"And while I would be against this for your intentions," Mirrilla added, "I do know their future. Something that you do with her makes magic come back into the human world, if several thousands of years from now."

"I guess my intentions are met after all," he said. "I am glad we were able to have this conversation. I shall pursue her affections with passion now. It is my destiny and yours."

"And if you—never mind." Jen said.

Lohrasb raised an eyebrow at Jen's almost comment and did not hide a slight smile. "If you are the result of my intentions, Mindy, then I know I will succeed in my endeavors. Whatever the outcome is, we know you are the result and a fine one at that! I thank you all for showing me this destiny."

Lohrasb's compliment caused Mindy blush considerably. She had to look away for a moment, not noticing his broad smile to her.

"Yes, you're welcome," Jen said. "Can we go now?"

Lohrasb laughed at Jen. "Impatient I see, too. Yes, you may all go. Please contact me in Limbo when you get back. I would like to know more about this new generation of the djinn."

"We thank you for your hospitality and information in this matter, Lohrasb. You have been most helpful." Mirrilla bowed to Lohrasb as he gave his salaam in return. Mindy did the same out of respect, especially as he was her ancestor.

Mirrilla faced the others, to get their attention. "Very well, let us go now. Ready everyone?" She folded her arms up for the smoke-out, waiting for any other farewells and Jen's answer.

"What? Oh, right yes. Let's go."

"As you wish, Jen!" She blinked them into her smoke, taking them from that past and back into their own time, smoking into Mindy's study seconds later.

Jen stumbled and grabbed Yosuf's arm for support. "Still feels a little weird." She then noticed she was holding Yosuf and let go. Mindy grinned at Jen's action and reaction as did Mirrilla.

"Now, let's see," Yosuf said and blinked away. He returned a couple of seconds later. "I just made it to Old Baghdad. We can go home now."

"Not yet," Jen said, surprising Yosuf. "I have to go to Limbo and ask somebody something."

Mirrilla nodded in agreement. "We need to all go back to Limbo. Yosuf must retrieve his equipment while you two and I must discuss what we have learned with Hadji."

Mirrilla smoked them all over to Limbo again, her smoke coming into being in front of Hadji, as if he had been expecting them that very second.

"What did you discover, Djinni Mirrilla?" Hadji asked.

"That another of the djinn had intended to restart a generation of our kind in the human world without our influence," she said. "We know that did not happen, only that he was successful in a different way. Mindy and her mother are the result of that."

"Then I must tell you more. It had long been foretold that this would occur. You had to take the journey to make it come to be. Had you known this in advance it would have tainted the results and we do not know what would have happened. Nothing good and certainly no young djinni by the name of Kiana," he said, nodding to Mindy with a knowing smile. She returned the same look and smile back to him while Mirrilla looked stunned at this revelation.

"And why did I have to, literally, get sucked into this?" Jen asked.

"Because if you had not, it would have been because Mindy had never become a djinni and none of you had taken this trip into the past. Oh, that reminds me; I have someone here to see you, too." The moment he said that, a djinni dressed in azure and gold appeared to Hadji's left. It was Lohrasb.

"Salaam, Djinni Jen. Remember me?"

"Yeah, it wasn't thousands of years for me." She paused a moment before going on. "So, did you ever—learn how to travel to different worlds?"

"No, I remained in Limbo after I left the human world. Hadji and several of the elders set this into play a thousand years before my time with the human woman Termeh. That I was 'used' I believe is the right term. Certainly, I was upset at being so manipulated then, but I had seen the result of such destiny guidance and it _has _been three thousand years…"

"Maybe that's how long it'll take me to get used to it in my world," Jen said.

Lohrasb laughed along with Mirrilla and Hadji at her comment. "That feeling will pass as you get older, Jen. You have many thousands of years ahead of you and that is just the beginning of this life. The longer you live it, the more at ease you become with our reality."

"Your reality?" she asked, thinking about that. "Well, you sure aren't as angry as some of the people I'm used to back home. There are worse worlds."

"That is not what I meant, Jen. Our reality is that we are djinn and we are separate from humanity, for now. I have observed that you seem unhappy with your reality. Would you like to remain here? I think you would like it…"

Jen pondered Lohrasb's offer. "Maybe… I'll have to think about it." She smiled at the thought before continuing. "But it could be a lot worse."

Yosuf was standing at the altered Past-Future Machine as he spoke up. "It's working much better now. Not as well as back home, but I think the removal of the barrier between worlds is helping improve the reception."

Hadji nodded in appreciation. "That is understandable. Once you both travel back to your world things will be familiar again and work as they should."

"Maybe we could go back to Mindy's house. Then I can think," Jen said.

"That is an excellent idea, Jen!" Mindy said. "If we are done here, then I would like to take us, if that is okay, Mirrilla?"

"Yes, Mindy, I believe you are ready for such a task. I will remain behind. You and Pamela are as trained as I can make you. I do not feel there is much you cannot do as I or any of our kind. You are indeed an elemental djinni as is Pamela. I am proud to have made this possible for you!" She hugged Mindy goodbye, patting her on the shoulders before bowing to the others. "And Salaam to you, Djinni Jen and Djinn Yosuf. Please consider visiting if you decide to return to your world."

"That's a promise," Jen said, anticipating the opportunity.

"Salaam, Great Hadji. Bye Mirrilla, and you too, Lohrasb," Mindy said, turning to Jen and Yosuf. "Are you ready?"

"What? Oh, yes, I think so," Yosuf replied, and blinked. The Past-Future Machine disappeared a moment later. "There, it's back in your house now."

"I'm ready, too," Jen said, nodding to her.

Mindy acknowledged their readiness and blinked the three of them into pink smoke, vanishing from Limbo.


	17. When Djinni Met Genie - Chapter 17

When Djinni Met Genie

By

Eric Franklin (Kentauros) & The Rare Delurker © 2010

(Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of IDoJ they belong to their creators. This story is written purely for entertainment and not for profitable purposes. We do, however, own all original characters and the plot. If you would like to use the characters we have created, please ask first.)

* * *

~17~

Mere seconds passed and her smoke-transport ended in the study, returning them all back to normal form.

"Wow! That felt great! I am going to have to smoke into other places like that now," she said, bubbling with the excitement of it all, but settled down as soon as she looked at her two djinni friends. "I will need to tell my mother what happened. You may come with me if you wish, or remain here until I get back. I should not be gone longer than a few minutes."

Mindy never got out of the room as they were all interrupted by a disembodied voice.

"So, this is that other world of yours?" It was a voice Jen knew well. A second later, a genie slightly older than Jen popped into the room. Dressed in a green harem outfit with dark hair, she was looking around like a wealthy tourist visiting a third world marketplace. "This world tingles a bit, doesn't it?"

"Amethyst, what are you doing here?" Jen asked.

"Having a look around, my dear!" Amethyst said. "All the other family members came. Daddy, cousin Kashi, Gamma and little Ginnie, Cousin Janae and her daughters. And _they_ came, of course." She pointed to a group of djinn wearing the dark clothing.

"What are they?" Mindy asked.

Jen sighed, "Djinn Investigators. They're one of the many things your world was better off without."

"Genie Jennifer," the leader of the group of investigators, Hafez, said. "You are fortunate that this appears to be an accident. Do not make us suspect you of insolence."

"Of course not, sir," Jen grumbled.

Mindy asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Ah," Hafiz said, "you would be one of the genies from this world. We understand that in this world, you are far fewer in number."

"But more powerful," Jen said, "and they gave us a little boost." She takes Yosuf's arms and smiles, more than in triumph.

"Really?" Hafez said and muttered to his fellow investigators. "We will need to do some tests."

"Really, Hafez, is that necessary?" Amethyst said.

"This may be a familiar world," Hafez said, "but it is alien. Haji has declared the existence of this world an official secret. And he has ordered that the boundary between worlds be guarded to keep all outsiders out. All those with knowledge of its distance are forbidden from revealing it on pain of being sealed in a black bottle and kept hidden in Haji's secret vault for three thousand years."

Jen mouthed, "Three thousand? Why?"

"It is Haji's order," Hafez said. "That is why."

Mindy approached Jen and said, "You could stay with us if you want." Jen looked at Mindy, thoughtfully. "We can protect you."

"But we can still research, can't we?" Yosuf asked.

"With more restrictions and greater supervision," Hafez said, "of course."

Yosuf sighed. "I guess," he said, "it will be good to have more help."

"You're going back?" Jen asked. She looked back at Mindy.

"Of course," Yosuf said. "It's home."

Jen shook. "Right behind you," she said.

"Jen, we _can_ protect you," Mindy said. Jen looked back at Mindy through pained eyes and shook her head. "Why are you going back?" Mindy asked.

"You know why," Jen said, nodding to Yosuf before he blinked out with the Past-Future Machine.

"I just hope," Jen said, "that when I am forced to have—you know, for training, that he's as kind as yours."

"I will look for and read any more stories about you," Mindy said.

"Have that Rare Delurker freak give me a happy ending," Jen said. "If he doesn't, turn him into something. If that works, I won't mind being a story."

Mindy nodded.

"I will find a way to see you," Mindy said, adding, "more than in a story."

"No," Hafez said, "you will not. Genie Jennifer, return to our world."

"We will see if you can stop me," Mindy replied with a sly smile.

Jen returned to the Healy house and her bedroom. A second later, her orange bottle followed, appearing on her dresser. She sighed. Then she looked around her room and blinked at her bed. It rose easily, as easily as raising a bed was in that other world after Mindy augmented her powers. Nothing had been lost in crossing over. Excellent, she thought.

Mindy went over to her computer and blinked up the page. The pink and purple themed message board appeared and she blinked over to the fan-fiction board. At the top of the threads, she saw a story called _"When Djinni Met Genie."_ Thrilled and curious what that meant in their circumstances, she looked, blinked it open and read to near the end.

"Excellent, she thought," it read.

"Good for you, Jen," Mindy said.


End file.
